Seawater carbonate chemistry and morphometric coordinates and morphology of the control 8-arm pluteus of brittlestar Ophiothrix fragilis, 2008, supplement to: Dupont, Sam; Havenhand, Jonathan N; Thorndyke, William; Peck, Loyd S; Thorndyke, Mike (2008): Near-future level of CO2-driven ocean acidification radically affects larval survival and development in the brittlestar Ophiothrix fragilis. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 373, 285-295

• Main Authors: Dupont, Sam, Havenhand, Jonathan N, Thorndyke, William, Peck, Loyd S, Thorndyke, Mike
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2008
• Subjects: Animalia; Bottles or small containers/Aquaria <20 L; Coast and continental shelf; Echinodermata; Growth/Morphology; Laboratory experiment; North Atlantic; Ophiothrix fragilis; Pelagos; Single species; Temperate; Zooplankton; Salinity; Temperature, water; Alkalinity, total; pH; Time, incubation; Ophiothrix fragilis, body length; Ophiothrix fragilis, body length, standard error; Ophiothrix fragilis, body rod length; Ophiothrix fragilis, body rod length, standard error; Ophiothrix fragilis, posterolateral rod length; Ophiothrix fragilis, posterolateral rod length, standard error; Ophiothrix fragilis, post-oral rod length; Ophiothrix fragilis, post-oral rod length, standard error; Ophiothrix fragilis, anterolateral rod length; Ophiothrix fragilis, anterolateral rod length, standard error; Ophiothrix fragilis, post-dorsal rod length; Ophiothrix fragilis, post-dorsal rod length, standard error; Ophiothrix fragilis, Symmetry index; Ophiothrix fragilis, Symmetry index, standard error; Carbon, inorganic, dissolved; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air; Fugacity of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air; Bicarbonate ion; Carbonate ion; Aragonite saturation state; Calcite saturation state; Measured after Sarazin et al 1999; Measured using LAS software Leica; Calculated; Calculated using CO2SYS; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. 2010; European network of excellence for Ocean Ecosystems Analysis EUR-OCEANS; European Project on Ocean Acidification EPOCA; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre OA-ICC; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.758065; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.758065

The world's oceans are slowly becoming more acidic. In the last 150 yr, the pH of the oceans has dropped by ~0.1 units, which is equivalent to a 25% increase in acidity. Modelling predicts the pH of the oceans to fall by 0.2 to 0.4 units by the year 2100. These changes will have significant effects on marine organisms, especially those with calcareous skeletons such as echinoderms. Little is known about the possible long-term impact of predicted pH changes on marine invertebrate larval development. Here we predict the consequences of increased CO2 (corresponding to pH drops of 0.2 and 0.4 units) on the larval development of the brittlestar Ophiothrix fragilis, which is a keystone species occurring in high densities and stable populations throughout the shelf seas of northwestern Europe (eastern Atlantic). Acidification by 0.2 units induced 100% larval mortality within 8 d while control larvae showed 70% survival over the same period. Exposure to low pH also resulted in a temporal decrease in larval size as well as abnormal development and skeletogenesis (abnormalities, asymmetry, altered skeletal proportions). If oceans continue to acidify as expected, ecosystems of the Atlantic dominated by this keystone species will be seriously threatened with major changes in many key benthic and pelagic ecosystems. Thus, it may be useful to monitor O. fragilis populations and initiate conservation if needed. : In order to allow full comparability with other ocean acidification data sets, the R package seacarb (Lavigne and Gattuso, 2011) was used to compute a complete and consistent set of carbonate system variables, as described by Nisumaa et al. (2010). In this dataset the original values were archived in addition with the recalculated parameters (see related PI).