Publication Date:
2024-03-15
Description:
Organisms, such as molluscs, that produce their hard parts from calcium carbonate are expected to show increased difficulties growing and maintaining their skeletons under ocean acidification (OA). Any loss of shell integrity increases vulnerability, as shells provide protection against predation, desiccation, and disease. Not all species show the same responses to OA, which may be due to the composition and microstructural arrangement of their shells. We explore the role of shell composition and microstructure in resisting dissolution caused by decreases in seawater pH using a combination of microCT scans, XRD analysis, and SEM imaging. Two gastropods with different shell compositions and microstructure, Tegula funebralis and Nucella ostrina, were exposed to simulated ocean acidification conditions for six months. Both species showed signs of dissolution on the exterior of their shells, but changes in density were significantly more pronounced in T. funebralis. XRD analysis indicated that the exterior layer of both shell types was made of calcite. T. funebralis may be more prone to dissolution because their outer fibrous calcite layer has more crystal edges and faces exposed, potentially increasing the surface area on which dissolution can occur. These results support a previous study where T. funebralis showed significant decreases in both shell growth and strength, but N. ostrina only showed slight reductions in shell strength, and unaffected growth. We suggest that microstructural arrangement of shell layers in molluscs, more so than their composition alone, is critical for determining the vulnerability of mollusc shells to OA.
Keywords:
Alkalinity, total; Alkalinity, total, standard deviation; Animalia; Aragonite; Aragonite saturation state; Aragonite saturation state, standard deviation; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Bicarbonate ion, standard deviation; Bodega_Marine_Reserve; Bottles or small containers/Aquaria (〈20 L); Calcification/Dissolution; Calcite; Calcite/Aragonite ratio; Calcite saturation state; Calcite saturation state, standard deviation; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Calculated using seacarb after Orr et al. (2018); Carbon, inorganic, dissolved; Carbon, inorganic, dissolved, standard deviation; Carbonate ion; Carbonate ion, standard deviation; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide, standard deviation; Coast and continental shelf; Comment; EXP; Experiment; Experiment duration; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Fugacity of carbon dioxide in seawater, standard deviation; Greyscale value; Identification; Laboratory experiment; Mollusca; North Pacific; Nucella ostrina; 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); Peak height; pH; pH, standard deviation; Registration number of species; Replicate; Salinity; Salinity, standard deviation; Single species; Species; Tegula funebralis; Temperate; Temperature, water; Temperature, water, standard deviation; Treatment; Type; Uniform resource locator/link to reference
Type:
Dataset
Format:
text/tab-separated-values, 12336 data points
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