Seawater carbonate chemistry and reproduction and offspring performance of Nematostella vectensis

• Main Authors: Glass, Benjamin H, Schmitt, Angela H, Brown, Kristen T, Speer, Kelsey F, Barott, Katie L
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2023
• Subjects: Alkalinity; total; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Bottles or small containers/Aquaria (<20 L); Calcite saturation state; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Cnidaria; Coast and continental shelf; Development; Eggs; diameter; Fecundity; eggs per female; Fertilization success rate; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Incubation duration; Laboratory experiment; Larvae; settled; Male fecundity; number of sperms; Mortality/Survival; Nematostella vectensis; North Atlantic; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Pelagos; pH; Potentiometric; Potentiometric titration; Reproduction; Respiration; Respiration rate; oxygen; per individual; Salinity; Sex; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.957364; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.957364

Ocean acidification (OA) resulting from anthropogenic CO2 emissions is impairing the reproduction of marine organisms. While parental exposure to OA can protect offspring via carryover effects, this phenomenon is poorly understood in many marine invertebrate taxa. Here, we examined how parental exposure to acidified (pH 7.40) versus ambient (pH 7.72) seawater influenced reproduction and offspring performance across six gametogenic cycles (13 weeks) in the estuarine sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. Females exhibited reproductive plasticity under acidic conditions, releasing significantly fewer but larger eggs compared to ambient females after four weeks of exposure, and larger eggs in two of the four following spawning cycles despite recovering fecundity, indicating long-term acclimatization and greater investment in eggs. Males showed no changes in fecundity under acidic conditions, but produced a greater percentage of sperm with high mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP; a proxy for elevated motility), which corresponded with higher fertilization rates relative to ambient males. Finally, parental exposure to acidic conditions did not significantly influence offspring development rates, respiration rates, or heat tolerance. Overall, this study demonstrates that parental exposure to acidic conditions impacts gamete production and physiology but not offspring performance in N. vectensis, suggesting that increased investment in individual gametes may promote fitness.