Black sea bass (Centropristis striata) and scup (Stenotomus chrysops) compose important recreational and commercial fisheries along the United States Atlantic coast. Black sea bass is a temperate species, associated with reef habitat. Wild stocks and landings have been decreasong in recent decades. The demand for black sea bass exceeds supply, and the high market value has prompted research to evaluate their potential for commercial aquaculture. Recent studies conducted at the National Marine Fisheries Service, Milford, CT laboratory examined growth rates of juvenile scup fed commercial diets. This and other on-going studies at Milford have shown scup to acclimate quickly to tank conditions in the laboratory, and to exhibit rapid growth rates. These studies indicate the possibility that scup have potential as a candidiate species for commercial aquaculture. Studies with both fish species suggest they are interesting species for studies of the effects of ocean acidification because of their economic importance as fisheries species. These studies focused on laboratory-based experiments to measure the biological effects of elevated levels of CO2 on embryos of these important marine finfish. Adult black sea bass were naturally conditioned and spawned in the laboratory by photo-thermal manipulation. Adult scup were strip-spawned at sea and their eggs were fertilized at sea. The fertilized eggs of both species of fish were exposed to two treatment levels of pCO2 and one control level, with three replicates per treatment and the controls. Measurements of biological effects included percent hatch, viable embryos, abnormal embryos, and dead embryos. Measurements of dissolved oxygen concentration, percent oxygen saturation, temperature, salinity and pH were taken daily in each treatment container and the controls. Samples of seawater were taken at the time of intial experimental setup and at the time of hatching from each container for analyses of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and analyses of pH by spectrometry.

This dataset contains laboratory experimental data that were collected to examine the effects of elevated levels of carbon dioxide on the growth of Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima), a species that supports both commercial and recreational fisheries in the Northeast United States. Three levels of carbon dioxide enrichment (low, medium, and high) were delivered to surfclams in a 12-week exposure experiment. All treatments were done in 3 replicates (A, B, C). Approximately every 2 to 3 weeks, 12 individuals were removed from each treatment and measurements of length, width, height, dry tissue, and dry shell were recorded. Length was measured across the longest part of the shell, parallel to the hinge. Width was the thickness of the shell, and height was measured form the hinge to the outer edge of the shell. Dry tissue and dry shell samples were dried at 60°C until constant weight was achieved (~5 days). DIC measurements of carbon dioxide enrichment were taken and analyzed on an Apollo SciTech, while pH was measured weekly with a spectrophotometer. Values reported for DIC, pH, temperature, and salinity are the mean of each treatment during the 12-week experiment. The data indicated that increased carbon dioxide affected growth, tissue mass, and shell weight for Atlantic surfclam.

This dataset contains laboratory experimental data that were collected to examine the effects of elevated levels of carbon dioxide on the growth of Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima), a species that supports both commercial and recreational fisheries in the Northeast United States. Three levels of carbon dioxide enrichment (low, medium, and high) were delivered to surfclams in a 12-week exposure experiment. All treatments were done in 3 replicates (A, B, C). Approximately every 2 to 3 weeks, 12 individuals were removed from each treatment and measurements of length, width, height, dry tissue, and dry shell were recorded. Length was measured across the longest part of the shell, parallel to the hinge. Width was the thickness of the shell, and height was measured form the hinge to the outer edge of the shell. Dry tissue and dry shell samples were dried at 60°C until constant weight was achieved (~5 days). DIC measurements of carbon dioxide enrichment were taken and analyzed on an Apollo SciTech, while pH was measured weekly with a spectrophotometer. Values reported for DIC, pH, temperature, and salinity are the mean of each treatment during the 12-week experiment. The data indicated that increased carbon dioxide affected growth, tissue mass, and shell weight for Atlantic surfclam.

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

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 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.

Juvenile red and blue king crabs (Paralithodes camtschaticus and P. platypus) were exposed to three pH levels: ambient (pH 8.1), pH 7.8, and pH 7.5 for three weeks. Oxygen consumption and feeding ration were determined immediately after exposure to treatment water and after three weeks exposure. Growth can be calculated from the wet mass observations.