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 data from manipulated experimental seawater chemistry conditions and walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) larval development, swimming behavior, and lipid composition responses. The experiment took place from April 4-May 17, 2018 in the Alaska Fisheries Science Center laboratory research facilities at Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon. Larvae were obtained from natural spawning of laboratory-acclimated broodstock adults. Experiments occurred from fertilization to 4 weeks post-hatch at ambient (~ 425 µatm) and elevated (~ 1230 µatm) CO2 levels. This effort was conducted in support of the research objectives of the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP).

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).

This dataset contains laboratory experiment data that were collected to examine the effects of elevated levels of CO2 on phytoplankton physiology and nutrition for fishery-based food webs. Phytoplankton are single-celled photosynthetic organisms at the base of marine food webs that support finfish and shellfish production. At present, it is unclear how changes in atmospheric partial pressure of CO2 and ocean pH will affect phytoplankton physiology and community structure. We were funded to begin single-species, laboratory-culture experiments assessing the influence of experimentally-varied steady-state pH/CO2 upon phytoplankton physiology and nutritional content, including growth rate, elemental composition (C, N, P), total carbohydrates, lipids, and fatty acids. The data presented here represent the single species experiments done from 2011-2013.

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 data for a study of the effect of ocean acidification (OA) on the behavioral responses of a coastal flatfish. In laboratory experiments, we first characterized speckled sanddab (Citharichthys stigmaeus) behavioral responses to potential predation cues (predator odor, damaged skin cues from injured conspecifics, and sight of a predator) under ambient CO2 levels (~400 uatm). Sanddab reduced conspicuousness and foraging at the sight of a predator, but increased activity and conspicuousness when exposed to damaged skin cues. We then examined the effects of elevated CO2 levels (~900 uatm and ~1500 uatm) on posture, activity, and foraging of sanddab, and the behavioral responses to damaged skin cues. Sanddab behavior appeared generally resilient to the effects of elevated CO2 levels, but there were non-significant trends of fish from the medium CO2 treatment exhibiting lower posture and activity scores, and reduced feeding activity. The resiliency of speckled sanddab to OA conditions may be related to their distribution in a coastal upwelling region with seasonally elevated CO2 levels. Alternatively, prolonged acclimation to elevated CO2 may have mitigated the effects observed in other fishes following shorter-term exposures. Additional studies of ecologically relevant behaviors across diverse species assemblages are necessary to evaluate the impact of ocean acidification on marine food webs.

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 contains the results of a laboratory experiment study to understand the effect of ocean acidification on eggs and larvae of northern rock sole, Lepidopsetta polyxystra. The Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska support a number of commercially important flatfish fisheries. These high latitude ecosystems are predicted to be most immediately impacted by ongoing ocean acidification but the range of responses by commercial fishery species has yet to be fully explored. In this study we examined the growth responses of northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra) eggs and larvae across a range of CO2 levels (ambient to 1500 uatm) to evaluate the potential sensitivity to ocean acidification. Laboratory-spawned eggs and larvae were reared at 8 degrees Celsius in a flow-through culture system in which CO2 levels were maintained via computer-controlled injection of CO2 into a seawater conditioning tank. Overall, we observed only minor effects of elevated CO2 level on sizes of northern rock sole larvae. Size at hatch differed among offspring from four different females, but there was no significant effect of CO2 level on egg survival or size at hatch. In three separate larval growth trials, there was little effect of CO2 level on growth rates through the first 28 days post-hatch (DPH). However, in the one trial extended to 60 DPH, fish reared at the highest CO2 level had lower condition factors after 28 DPH suggesting that larvae undergoing metamorphosis may be more sensitive to environmental hypercapnia than earlier pre-flexion stages. These results suggest that while early life stages of northern rock sole are less sensitive to ocean acidification than previously examined flatfishes, they may be more sensitive to elevated CO2 levels than a previously studied gadid with a similar geographic range.

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 is from an experiment where northern rock sole larvae were reared in the laboratory to measure growth, condition, development and settlement parameters across four temperatures (2, 4, 7 and 10C).