Highlights
- Ocean acidification and temperature differently influence larval development of Arbacia lixula and Paracentrotus lividus.
- Larvae of the two A. lixula populations (ambient-pH vs vent sites) respond differently to ocean acidification and temperature.
- Maternal buffer effect was observed in response to ocean acidification and temperature in both species.
- A. lixula seems to be more tolerant to changes in temperature than P. lividus.
Abstract
Juvenile stages of marine species might be more vulnerable than adults to climate change, however larval vulnerability to predictable environmental changes can be mitigated by parental anticipatory buffer effects occurring during gametogenesis. In this study, ocean acidification effect were investigated on larval growth of two sea urchins, Arbacia lixula and Paracentrotus lividus, at different temperature levels. Results showed that altered pH and temperature affected larval development in both species, with significant length reductions of spicules and significant increases in abnormal larvae. Detrimental effects of reduced pH and high temperature were however dependent on the mother. Furthermore, the responses of A. lixula larvae from the ambient site (pH ∼ 8.0) were compared with those of larvae obtained from mothers collected from a natural CO2 vent (pH ∼ 7.7) in Ischia. Comparisons highlighted a transgenerational response, as the CO2 vent larvae proved to be more resilient to reduced pH, although more sensitive to increased temperature.
Palombo C., Chiarore A., Ciscato M., Asnicar D., Mirasole A., Fabbrizzi E., Teixidó N. & Munari M., 2023. Thanks mum. Maternal effects in response to ocean acidification of sea urchin larvae at different ecologically relevant temperatures. Marine Pollution Bulletin 188: 114700. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114700. Article.
