Temperature monitoring of subtidal and intertidal microhabitats of oyster Crassostrea gigas

• Main Authors: Petton, Sebastien, Corporeau, Charlotte, Quemener, Loic
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: SEANOE 2020
• Subjects: Pacific; Crassostrea gigas; Pacific oyster
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.17882/79095; https://www.seanoe.org/data/00679/79095/

The Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas is a marine sessile bivalve living in the coastal intertidal zone, a stressful and highly dynamic environment affected by global changes. Our work aimed at increase knowledge on the thermal environment of oyster in its intertidal habitat. Specific-pathogen-free oyster spats were produced and maintained in hatchery. On May 2nd 2018, juveniles were deployed in the intertidal zone at the experimental site in the Bay of Brest (Brittany, France, 48° 20′ 06.19″ N, 4° 19′ 06.37″ W). They were placed at three bathymetric levels (Low = 1.6 m; Middle = 3 m; High = 5 m) corresponding to the lower and upper natural limits of wild C. gigas repartition in the field. Data were acquired using SP2T probes © NKE autonomous data logger fixed in oyster bags to monitor temperature and pressure at Low, Middle and High (one logger per level). Time frequency of recording was 1 data per min. Each data available here has been averaged at a 10-min frequency and has a flagged value of 1 if taken in air or 2 if taken in sea. Our data showed that magnitude and ranges of temperature varied between vertical position on the shore. C. gigas were able to support extreme dynamic fluctuations of temperature in function of their microhabitats, driven by tidal height, day/night cycle and exposure to air. One of the main finding of our work was that oyster could support extreme ranges of temperature from -1.1 °C to 36.4°C during exposure to air during spring. The marine rocky intertidal zone thus appeared as one of the most variable and unpredictable habitats on earth.