Evidence for Carbonate System Mediated Shape Shift in an Intertidal Predatory Gastropod

• Main Authors: Mayk, Dennis, Peck, Lloyd S, Harper, Elizabeth M
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media SA 2022
• Subjects: North Atlantic; Ocean acidification; Nucella lapillus
• Online Access: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/337619; https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.85026

<jats:p>Phenotypic plasticity represents an important first-line organism response to newly introduced or changing environmental constraints. Knowledge about structural responses to environmental stressors could thus be an essential measure to predict species and ecosystem responses to a world in change. In this study, we combined morphometric analyses with environmental modelling to identify direct shape responses of the predatory gastropod <jats:italic>Nucella lapillus</jats:italic> to large-scale variability in sea surface temperature and the carbonate system. Our models suggest that the state of the carbonate system and, more specifically, the substrate inhibitor ratio <jats:inline-formula> ( [ H C O 3 − ] [ H + ] − 1 ) </jats:inline-formula> (SIR) has a dominant effect on the shell shape of this intertidal muricid. Populations in regions with a lower SIR tend to form narrower shells with a higher spire to body whorl ratio, whereas populations in areas with a higher SIR form wider shells with a much lower spire to body whorl ratio. These results indicate that a widespread phenotypic response of <jats:italic>N. lapillus</jats:italic> to continuing ocean acidification can be expected, potentially altering the phenotypic response pattern to predator or wave exposure regimes with profound implications for North Atlantic rocky shore communities.</jats:p>