Supplementary material from "Ocean acidification alters predator behaviour and reduces predation rate"

• Main Authors: Sue-Ann Watson, Fields, Jennifer B., Munday, Philip L.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Figshare 2017
• Subjects: Environmental Science; Ecology; FOS Biological sciences; 60801 Animal Behaviour; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3667951.v1; https://figshare.com/collections/Supplementary_material_from_Ocean_acidification_alters_predator_behaviour_and_reduces_predation_rate_/3667951/1

Ocean acidification poses a range of threats to marine invertebrates; however, the emerging and likely widespread effects of rising carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) levels on marine invertebrate behaviour are still little understood. Here, we show that ocean acidification alters and impairs key ecological behaviours of the predatory cone snail Conus marmoreus . Projected near-future seawater CO 2 levels (975 µatm) increased activity in this coral reef molluscivore more than threefold (from less than 4 to more than 12 mm.min −1 ) and decreased the time spent buried to less than one-third when compared with the present-day control conditions (385 µatm). Despite increasing activity, elevated CO 2 reduced predation rate during predator–prey interactions with control-treated humpbacked conch, Gibberulus gibberulus gibbosus 60% of control predators successfully captured and consumed their prey, compared with only 10% of elevated CO 2 predators. The alteration of key ecological behaviours of predatory invertebrates by near-future ocean acidification could have potentially far-reaching implications for predator–prey interactions and trophic dynamics in marine ecosystems. Combined evidence that the behaviours of both species in this predator–prey relationship are altered by elevated CO 2 suggests food web interactions and ecosystem structure will become increasingly difficult to predict as ocean acidification advances over coming decades.