Seawater carbonate chemistry and sperm count and fertilization rate of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

• Main Authors: Lymbery, Rowan A, Brouwer, Jill, Evans, Jonathan P
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2022
• Subjects: Alkalinity; total; standard error; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Block; Bottles or small containers/Aquaria (<20 L); Calcite saturation state; Calculated using seacarb; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Coast and continental shelf; Eggs; EXP; Experiment; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Identification; Indian Ocean; Laboratory experiment; Mollusca; Mytilus galloprovincialis; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); pH; Potentiometric; Potentiometric titration; Replicate; Reproduction; Salinity; Sample ID; Single species; Indian; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.945725; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.945725

The continued emissions of anthropogenic carbon dioxide are causing progressive ocean acidification (OA). While deleterious effects of OA on biological systems are well documented in the growth of calcifying organisms, lesser studied impacts of OA include potential effects on gamete interactions that determine fertilization, which are likely to influence the many marine species that spawn gametes externally. Here, we explore the effects of OA on the signalling mechanisms that enable sperm to track egg-derived chemicals (sperm chemotaxis). We focus on the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, where sperm chemotaxis enables eggs to bias fertilization in favour of genetically compatible males. Using an experimental design based on the North Carolina II factorial breeding design, we test whether the experimental manipulation of seawater pH (comparing ambient conditions to predicted end-of-century scenarios) alters patterns of differential sperm chemotaxis. While we find no evidence that male–female gametic compatibility is impacted by OA, we do find that individual males exhibit consistent variation in how their sperm perform in lowered pH levels. This finding of individual variability in the capacity of ejaculates to respond to chemoattractants under acidified conditions suggests that climate change will exert considerable pressure on male genotypes that can withstand an increasingly hostile fertilization environment.