Physiological energetics of the thick shell mussel Mytilus coruscus exposed to seawater acidification and thermal stress

• Main Authors: Wang, Youji, Li, Lisha, Hu, Menghong, Lu, Weiqun
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2015
• Subjects: Absorption efficiency; Alkalinity; total; standard error; Ammonia excretion; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Behaviour; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Brackish waters; Calcite saturation state; Calculated; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Clearance rate; Containers and aquaria (20-1000 L or < 1 m**2); Duration; number of days; EXP; Experiment; Fecal organic dry mass ratio; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Growth/Morphology; Laboratory experiment; Mollusca; Mytilus coruscus; North Pacific; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Other metabolic rates; Oxygen consumed/Nitrogen excreted ratio; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.860454; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.860454

Anthropogenic CO2 emissions have caused seawater temperature elevation and ocean acidification. In view of both phenomena are occurring simultaneously, their combined effects on marine species must be experimentally evaluated. The purpose of this study was to estimate the combined effects of seawater acidification and temperature increase on the energy budget of the thick shell mussel Mytilus coruscus. Juvenile mussels were exposed to six combined treatments with three pH levels (8.1, 7.7 and 7.3) * two temperatures (25 °C and 30 °C) for 14 d. We found that clearance rates (CRs), food absorption efficiencies (AEs), respiration rates (RRs), ammonium excretion rates (ER), scope for growth (SFG) and O:N ratios were significantly reduced by elevated temperature sometimes during the whole experiments. Low pH showed significant negative effects on RR and ER, and significantly increased O:N ratios, but showed almost no effects on CR, AE and SFG of M. coruscus. Nevertheless, their interactive effects were observed in RR, ER and O:N ratios. PCA revealed positive relationships among most physiological indicators, especially between SFG and CR under normal temperatures compared to high temperatures. PCA also showed that the high RR was closely correlated to an increasing ER with increasing pH levels. These results suggest that physiological energetics of juvenile M. coruscus are able to acclimate to CO2 acidification with a little physiological effect, but not increased temperatures. Therefore, the negative effects of a temperature increase could potentially impact the ecophysiological responses of M. coruscus and have significant ecological consequences, mainly in those habitats where this species is dominant in terms of abundance and biomass.