Seawater carbonate chemistry and predatory strategies and behaviours in cephalopods

• Main Authors: Spady, Blake L, Munday, Philip L, Watson, Sue-Ann
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2018
• Subjects: Alkalinity; total; standard error; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Behaviour; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Calcite saturation state; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Category; Cleveland_Bay_OA; Coast and continental shelf; Containers and aquaria (20-1000 L or < 1 m**2); Direction; Distance; EXP; Experiment; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Idiosepius pygmaeus; Laboratory experiment; Mollusca; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); pH; Registration number of species; Salinity; Single species; South Pacific; Species; Temperature; water; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.900659; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.900659

There is increasing evidence that projected near‐future carbon dioxide (CO2) levels can alter predator avoidance behaviour in marine invertebrates, yet little is known about the possible effects on predatory behaviours. Here we tested the effects of elevated CO2 on the predatory behaviours of two ecologically distinct cephalopod species, the pygmy squid, Idiosepius pygmaeus, and the bigfin reef squid, Sepioteuthis lessoniana. Both species exhibited an increased latency to attack and altered body pattern choice during the attack sequence at elevated CO2. I. pygmaeus also exhibited a 20% decrease in predation rate, an increased striking distance, and reduced preference for attacking the posterior end of prey at elevated CO2. Elevated CO2 increased activity levels of S. lessoniana comparable to those previously shown in I. pygmaeus, which could adversely affect their energy budget and increase their potential to be preyed upon. The effects of elevated CO2 on predatory behaviours, predation strategies and activity levels of cephalopods reported here could have far‐reaching consequences in marine ecosystems due to the ecological importance of cephalopods in the marine food web.