Effects of short-term and long-term exposure to ocean acidification on carbonic anhydrase activity and morphometric characteristics in the invasive polychaete Branchiomma boholense (Annelida: Sabellidae): A case-study from a CO 2 vent system

• Published in: Marine Environmental Research
• Main Authors: Del Pasqua, Michela, Gambi, Maria Cristina, Caricato, Roberto, Lionetto, Maria Giulia, Giangrande, Adriana
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Acclimatization; Biomarker; Carbonic anhydrase; High pCO 2; Mediterranean sea; Non-indigenous specie; pH; Physiological trade-off; Polychaete; Transplant experiment; Oceanography; Aquatic Science; Pollution; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11587/429309; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.01.011

The aim of this study was to test the effects of short- and long-term exposure to high pCO 2 on the invasive polychaete Branchiomma boholense (Grube, 1878), (Sabellidae), through the implementation of a transplant experiment at the CO 2 vents of the Castello Aragonese at the island of Ischia (Italy). Analysis of carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity, protein tissue content and morphometric characteristics were performed on transplanted individuals (short-term exposure) as well as on specimens resident to both normal and low pH/high pCO 2 environments (long-term exposure). Results obtained on transplanted worms showed no significant differences in CA activity between individuals exposed to control and acidified conditions, while a decrease in weight was observed under short-term acclimatization to both control and low pH, although at low pH the decrease was more pronounced (∼20%). As regard individuals living under chronic exposure to high pCO 2 , the morphometric results revealed a significantly lower (70%) wet weight of specimens from the vents with respect to animals living in high pH/low pCO 2 areas. Moreover, individuals living in the Castello vents showed doubled values of enzymatic activity and a significantly higher (50%) protein tissue content compared to specimens native from normal pH/low pCO 2 . The results of this study demonstrated that B. boholense is inclined to maintain a great homeostatic capacity when exposed to low pH, although likely at the energetic expense of other physiological processes such as growth, especially under chronic exposure to high pCO 2 .