This dataset contains laboratory experiment data that were collected to examine the effects of ocean acidification on hatch size and larval growth of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma). Rising atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are predicted to decrease the pH of high-latitude oceans by 0.3-0.5 units by 2100. Because of their limited capacity for ion exchange, embryos and larvae of marine fishes are predicted to be more sensitive to elevated CO2 than juveniles and adults. Eggs and larvae of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) were incubated across a broad range of CO2 levels (280-2100 matm) to evaluate sensitivity in this critical resource species. Slightly elevated CO2 levels (450 matm) resulted in earlier hatching times, but differences among egg batches were greater than those observed across CO2 treatments. Egg batches differed significantly in size-at-hatch metrics, but we observed no consistent effect of CO2 level. In three independent experiments, walleye pollock were reared at ambient and elevated CO2 levels through the early larval stage (to 30 days post-hatch). Across trials, there were only minor effects of CO2 level on size and growth rate, but fish in the ambient treatments tended to be slightly smaller than fish reared at elevated CO2 levels. These results suggest that growth potential of early life stages of walleye pollock is resilient with respect to the direct physiological effects of ocean acidification.

This dataset contains laboratory experiment data that were collected to examine the effects of elevated levels of CO2 on the growth, survival, otolith (ear bone) condition and the skeleton of juvenile scup, Stenotomus chrysops, a species that supports both commercial and recreational fisheries. Increasing amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide from human industrial activities are causing changes in global ocean carbon chemistry resulting in a reduction in pH, a process termed ocean acidification. Studies have demonstrated adverse effects on calcifying organisms, particularly some invertebrates, corals, sea urchins, pteropods, and coccolithophores. It is important to determine which species are sensitive to elevated levels of CO2 because of the potential impacts to ecosystems, marine resources, biodiversity, food webs, populations and effects on human communities and economies. There have been few studies examining the effects of ocean acidification on marine fish, particularly the juvenile stages of species that support important fisheries. These data demonstrated that elevated levels of pCO2 (>1300 micro-atm) had no statistically significant effect on growth, survival, or otolith condition after 8 weeks of rearing. There was a trend towards a greater gain in weight and length in scup exposed to the mid-level (1726 micro-atm) and the high level (2614 micro-atm) treatments of pCO2 when compared to the fish in the control (1205 micro-atm) treatments, but these differences were not statistically significant. X-ray analysis of the fish revealed a slightly higher incidence of hyper-ossification in the vertebrae of a few scup from the highest treatments compared to fish from the control treatments. The study's results show that juvenile scup are tolerant to increases in levels of environmental pCO2, possibly due to conditions this species encounters in their naturally variable environment.

This dataset is from laboratory experiments that examined the direct effects of projected levels of ocean acidification on the eggs and larvae of walleye pollock.

This dataset contains data from manipulated experimental seawater chemistry conditions and Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) embryos and larvae growth and development impacts. The experiment took place from April 6-June 2, 2022 in the Alaska Fisheries Science Center laboratory research facilities at Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon. Embryos and larvae were reared in the laboratory, and were the offspring of strip spawned adults freshly caught near Kodiak Island, Alaska. Experiments occurred for up to 9 weeks at one of six combinations of three temperatures (3, 6, 10 °C) and two CO2 levels (ambient: ~360 µatm; high: ~1560 µatm) in a factorial design. This effort was conducted in support of the research objectives of the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP).

In this study, we examined how CO2-driven acidification affected the growth and survival of juvenile golden king crab (Lithodes aequispinus), an important fishery species in Alaska. Juveniles were reared from larvae in surface ambient pH seawater at the Kodiak Laboratory. Newly molted early benthic instar crabs were randomly assigned to one of three pH treatments: (1) surface ambient pH ~ 8.2, (2) likely in situ ambient pH 7.8, and (3) pH 7.5. Thirty crabs were held in individual inserts in each treatment for 127 days and checked daily for molting or death. The complete methods, which should be read and understood prior to using this data, are published as: Long, W. C., Swiney, K. M., & Foy, R. J. (2021). Effects of ocean acidification on young of the year golden king crab (Lithodes aequispinus) survival and growth. Marine Biology, 168(8), 126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-021-03930-y.

This dataset contains a laboratory experiment study with the goal of understanding the effects of ocean acidification on the embryos and larvae of red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus. The effects of the decline in ocean pH, known as ocean acidification, on marine species are not well understood. To test the effects on embryos and larvae of red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, ovigerous crab and their larvae were held in CO2-acidified (pH 7.7) and control (ambient; pH 8.0) seawater during development. Morphometrics, hatch duration, fecundity, survival, mineral content, and condition were measured. Acidified embryos had 4% larger eyes and 5% smaller yolks, while mean hatch duration was 33% longer and female fecundity was unaffected. Acidified embryos also resulted in 4% longer larvae while acidified larvae had lower survival. Calcium content of both larvae and female carapaces after molting increased by 5% and 19%, respectively. Although ocean acidification may increase larval size and calcium content, the implications of this are unclear and decreased survival is likely to harm red king crab populations.

This dataset contains laboratory experiment data that were collected to examine the effects of ocean acidification and altered prey fatty acids on the early development of northern rock sole, Lepidopsetta polyxystra. Ocean acidification (OA) is predicted to affect the physiological rates of larval fish and invertebrates and is also expected to significantly impact marine fisheries through alteration of food webs. We examined whether mortality rates, body size, and condition of first-feeding larval northern rock sole were synergistically influenced by prey quality (essential fatty acids, EFAs) and high carbon dioxide (CO2) exposure. Larvae were exposed to ambient and high CO2 levels (~ 330 vs. 1020 µatm) and were fed diets with balanced or unbalanced EFA ratios for 7 weeks immediately following hatch. After 2 weeks, significant effects from CO2 and diet were observed, with the largest larvae occurring in the high CO2 exposure group that received a balanced EFA diet. After 5 weeks of exposure, the effects of elevated CO2 had a diminished impact on larval size, but larvae reared on the balanced EFA diet maintained higher lipid-based condition metrics than those fed an unbalanced EFA diet. Survival was variable across replicate tanks and not significantly different between treatments. This study suggests that L. polyxystra larvae are most vulnerable to OA and food web change at different points in their development. Further understanding of these ecosystem effects will be required to predict the impacts of OA on northern rock sole fisheries.

This dataset contains laboratory experiment results of the effect of ocean acidification (OA) and prey availability on the growth of larval northern rock sole. Multiple aspects of climate change are expected to co-occur such that ocean acidification will take place in conjunction with warming and a range of trophic changes. Previous studies have demonstrated that nutritional condition plays a significant role in the responses of invertebrates to ocean acidification, but similar studies have yet to be conducted with marine fishes. In this study, we examined the potential interactive effects of elevated CO2 levels and nutritional stress on the growth and development of northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra). Separate experiments examined the effects of these two environmental stressors during the pre-flexion (3-31 days) and post-flexion (31-87 days) larval stages. In both stages, larval feeding regime has a much larger impact on growth rates than did CO2 level, and there was no observed interaction between stressors. By 31 days post-hatch, larvae in the high feeding treatment were 84.2% heavier than the fish in the low feeding treatments, but there was no significant effect of CO2 level on body size or condition. While overall growth rates were faster during the pre-flexion stage, the effects of food limitation were greater for post-flexion larvae undergoing metamorphosis, with high feeding treatment fish being 3.3 times as heavy as fish in the low feeding treatments. These results have important implications for understanding the impacts of the multi-faceted nature of climate change on population productivity of commercial fish species in the North Pacific.

This dataset contains laboratory experiment data that were collected to examine the effects of ocean acidification on the Atlantic surfclam, Spisula solidissima, a species worth $31 million in 2009. Ocean acidification has negatively impacted growth and survival of multiple bivalve species, but because each species and developmental stage can show different responses, these studies were designed to determine potential impacts of increased CO2 on the larvae of the commercially important surfclam. Additionally, the role of nutrition (i.e., phytoplankton concentration) was included in a portion of these experiments because food availability may be able to mitigate the stress of ocean acidification and because ocean acidification has the potential to impact marine phytoplankton communities. During the summer of 2011, three different experiments were conducted at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution examining the effects of three different pCO2 concentrations on larval surf clams. Two short term experiments (~70h) examined the effect of food availability on early shell development (fed vs unfed). One long term experiment (~21d) was conducted to examine the effects of pCO2 on shell development and metamorphic success (all animals well fed). Carbonate data is reported from these preliminary short-term experiments, and survival and shell length data is reported, in addition to carbonate data, from the long-term experiment. During 2012, one 6 day experiment was conducted examining the role and potential interactive effects of high and low food availability (400 and 40,000 cells ml-1 Tiso) and differential CO2 concentrations (ambient, ~1200 ppm and ~2200ppm). From these experiments, carbonate data, shell length, mass and biochemical compositions are reported. In 2013, two additional experiments were conducted to confirm results obtained in 2012. Unfortunately we observed stunted larval growth, no feeding effect on growth, high mortalities and a general failure to thrive. Given this, we infer poor gamete quality may have been the cause, and have chosen not to interpret these data as results are suspect. Therefore, 2013 data are therefore not included in this data submission.

This dataset is from a study examining the growth responses of juvenile walleye pollock at ambient and 3 elevated CO2 levels.