Physiological energetics of juvenile clams Ruditapes decussatus in a high CO2 coastal ocean

• Published in: Marine Ecology Progress Series
• Main Authors: Fernández-Reiriz, María José, Range, Pedro, Álvarez-Salgado, Xosé Antón, Labarta, Uxío
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Inter Research 2011
• Subjects: Ocean acidification; Sea water pH; Physiological energetics; Clams; Ruditapes decussatus
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/54439; https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09062

9 páginas, 3 tablas, 1 figura Effects of coastal ocean acidification, other than calcification, were tested on juvenile clams Ruditapes decussatus during a controlled CO2 perturbation experiment. The carbonate chemistry of natural (control) seawater was manipulated by injecting CO2 to attain 2 reduced pH levels (–0.4 and –0.7 pH units) as compared with the control seawater. After 87 d of exposure, we found that the acidification conditions tested in this experiment significantly reduced the clearance, ingestion and respiration rates, and increased the ammonia excretion rate of R. decussatus seeds. Reduced ingestion combined with increased excretion is generally associated with a reduced energy input, which will likely contribute to a slower growth of the clams in a future high CO2 coastal ocean. These results emphasize the need for management policies to mitigate the adverse effects of global change on aquaculture, which is an economically relevant activity in most coastal areas worldwide. This is a contribution to the ACIDBIV project, which is part of the CIRCLE Med projects, funded by the Regional Ministry of Innovation and Industry of the Galician Government (08MDS018402PR), the Italian Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea, and the Foundation for Science and Technology of Portugal (ERA-CIRCLE/0004/ 2007), in the framework of the Circle ERA Net project (which is funded by the European Commission 6th Framework Programme). Peer reviewed