Seawater carbonate chemistry and antennular flicking and locomotory behaviours，olfactory nerve responses of Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister)

• Main Authors: Durant, Andrea, Khodikian, Elissa, Porteus, Cosima S
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2023
• Subjects: Alkalinity; total; Ammonium chloride; Animalia; Antennular flicking rate; Aragonite saturation state; Area; Arthropoda; Behaviour; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Cadaverine; Calcite saturation state; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Containers and aquaria (20-1000 L or < 1 m**2); Experiment; Experiment duration; Figure; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Gene expression (incl. proteomics); Identification; Integrated nerve response; Laboratory experiment; Laboratory strains; Metacarcinus magister; mRNA abundance; relative; Not applicable; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Other studied parameter or process; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide; standard deviation; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); pH; Replicate; Salinity; Sampling date/time; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.960337; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.960337

Crustacean olfaction is fundamental to most aspects of living and communicating in aquatic environments and more broadly, for individual- and population-level success. Accelerated ocean acidification from elevated CO2 threatens the ability of crabs to detect and respond to important olfactory-related cues. Here, we demonstrate that the ecologically and economically important Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister) exhibits reduced olfactory-related antennular flicking responses to a food cue when exposed to near-future CO2 levels, adding to the growing body of evidence of impaired crab behaviour. Underlying this altered behaviour, we find that crabs have lower olfactory nerve sensitivities (twofold reduction in antennular nerve activity) in response to a food cue when exposed to elevated CO2. This suggests that near-future CO2 levels will impact the threshold of detection of food by crabs. We also show that lower olfactory nerve sensitivity in elevated CO2 is accompanied by a decrease in the olfactory sensory neuron (OSN) expression of a principal chemosensory receptor protein, ionotropic receptor 25a (IR25a) which is fundamental for odorant coding and olfactory signalling cascades. The OSNs also exhibit morphological changes in the form of decreased surface areas of their somata. This study provides the first evidence of the effects of high CO2 levels at multiple levels of biological organization in marine crabs, linking physiological and cellular changes with whole animal behavioural responses.