Seawater carbonate chemistry during experiments with Patella vulgata, 2010

• Main Authors: Marchant, Hannah K, Calosi, Piero, Spicer, John I
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2010
• Subjects: Alkalinity; total; standard error; Aragonite saturation state; Bicarbonate ion; Calcite saturation state; Calculated using CO2SYS; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; CO2-Analyser Corning; Date; EPOCA; European Project on Ocean Acidification; Experimental treatment; Experiment day; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Identification; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); pH; pH meter (Mettler Toledo InLab 413 SG); Salinity; Temperature; water; Time of day; Toledo; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.763288; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.763288

The effect of short-term (5 days) exposure to CO2-acidified seawater (year 2100 predicted values, ocean pH = 7.6) on key aspects of the function of the intertidal common limpet Patella vulgata (Gastropoda: Patellidae) was investigated. Changes in extracellular acid-base balance were almost completely compensated by an increase in bicarbonate ions. A concomitant increase in haemolymph Ca2+ and visible shell dissolution implicated passive shell dissolution as the bicarbonate source. Analysis of the radula using SEM revealed that individuals from the hypercapnic treatment showed an increase in the number of damaged teeth and the extent to which such teeth were damaged compared with controls. As radula teeth are composed mainly of chitin, acid dissolution seems unlikely, and so the proximate cause of damage is unknown. There was no hypercapnia-related change in metabolism (O2 uptake) or feeding rate, also discounting the possibility that teeth damage was a result of a CO2-related increase in grazing. We conclude that although the limpet appears to have the physiological capacity to maintain its extracellular acid-base balance, metabolism and feeding rate over a 5 days exposure to acidified seawater, radular damage somehow incurred during this time could still compromise feeding in the longer term, in turn decreasing the top-down ecosystem control that P. vulgata exerts over rocky shore environments.