Elevated pCO2 causes developmental delay in early larval Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas

• Main Authors: Timmins-Schiffman, Emma, Roberts, Steven, O'Donnell, Michael, Friedman, Carolyn
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: figshare 2012
• Subjects: Marine Biology; Ecology; FOS Biological sciences; Pacific; Crassostrea gigas; Ocean acidification; Pacific oyster
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.95828.v1; https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Elevated_pCO2_causes_developmental_delay_in_early_larval_Pacific_oysters,_Crassostrea_gigas/95828/1

**This is a draft version of the following article: Timmins-Schiffman et al. (2012) Elevated pCO2 causes developmental delay in early larval Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas. Marine Biology, doi:10.1007/s00227-012-2055-x, which has been published in final form at the link provided below.** Increasing atmospheric CO 2 equilibrates with surface seawater, elevating the concentration of aqueous hydrogen ions. This process, ocean acidification, is a future and contemporary concern for aquatic organisms, causing failures in Pacific oyster ( Crassostrea gigas ) aquaculture. This experiment determines the effect of elevated p CO 2 on the early development of C. gigas larvae from a wild Pacific Northwest population. Adults were collected from Friday Harbor, Washington, USA (48°31.7’ N, 12°1.1’ W) and spawned in July 2011. Larvae were exposed to Ambient (400 µatm CO 2 ), MidCO 2 (700 µatm), or HighCO 2 (1000 µatm). After 24 hours, a greater proportion of larvae in the HighCO 2 treatment were calcified as compared to Ambient. This unexpected observation is attributed to increased metabolic rate coupled with sufficient energy resources. Oyster larvae raised at HighCO 2 showed evidence of a developmental delay by 3 days post-fertilization, which resulted in smaller larvae that were less calcified.