Seawater carbonate chemistry and processes during experiments with marine mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, 2005

• Main Authors: Michaelidis, Basile, Ouzounis, Christos, Paleras, Andreas, Pörtner, Hans-Otto
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2005
• Subjects: Acid-base regulation; Alkalinity; total; Ammonia release; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Calcite saturation state; Calcium; Calculated; see reference(s); Calculated using CO2SYS; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbon dioxide; Coast and continental shelf; Containers and aquaria (20-1000 L or < 1 m**2); EPOCA; EUR-OCEANS; European network of excellence for Ocean Ecosystems Analysis; European Project on Ocean Acidification; EXP; Experiment; Experimental treatment; Experiment day; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Growth/Morphology; Homogenate method developed by Pörtner et al (1990); Laboratory experiment; Measured; Mediterranean Sea; Michaelidis_etal_05; Mollusca; Mytilus galloprovincialis; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Other metabolic rates; Oxygen consumption; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); pH; Electrode; Respiration; Salinity; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.727746; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.727746

In the context of future scenarios of progressive accumulation of anthropogenic CO2 in marine surface waters, the present study addresses the effects of long-term hypercapnia on a Mediterranean bivalve, Mytilus galloprovincialis. Sea-water pH was lowered to a value of 7.3 by equilibration with elevated CO2 levels. This is close to the maximum pH drop expected in marine surface waters during atmosextracellular pHric CO2 accumulation. Intra- and extracellular acid-base parameters as well as changes in metabolic rate and growth were studied under both normocapnia and hypercapnia. Long-term hypercapnia caused a permanent reduction in haemolymph pH. To limit the degree of acidosis, mussels increased haemolymph bicarbonate levels, which are derived mainly from the dissolution of shell CaCO3. Intracellular pH in various tissues was at least partly compensated; no deviation from control values occurred during long-term measurements in whole soft-body tissues. The rate of oxygen consumption fell significantly, indicating a lower metabolic rate. In line with previous reports, a close correlation became evident between the reduction in extracellular pH and the reduction in metabolic rate of mussels during hypercapnia. Analysis of frequency histograms of growth rate revealed that hypercapnia caused a slowing of growth, possibly related to the reduction in metabolic rate and the dissolution of shell CaCO3 as a result of extracellular acidosis. In addition, increased nitrogen excretion by hypercapnic mussels indicates the net degradation of protein, thereby contributing to growth reduction. The results obtained in the present study strongly indicate that a reduction in sea-water pH to 7.3 may be fatal for the mussels. They also confirm previous observations that a reduction in sea-water pH below 7.5 is harmful for shelled molluscs.