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 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 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.

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 the biological response for Atlantic sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) exposed to three different levels of carbon dioxide enrichment (low, medium, high). The experiment took place from October 23, 2019 to December 19, 2019 (8 weeks). Salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, dissolved inorganic carbon, pH, chlorophyll-a, and seston counts are reported for the seawater during the 8 week exposure. Physiological measurements (feeding, respiration, and excretion rates) were taken 4 times during the experiment at the following temperatures (13.1C, 9.4C, 7.4C, and 6.1C). For feeding rates, the clearance rate, organic ingestion rate, assimilation rate, and assimilation efficiency are reported. From the respiration rate and excretion rate the atomic oxygen to nitrogen ratio is also reported. Scope for growth (the amount of energy available to grow) is calculated from the assimilated energy minus the energy for catabolic processes. Growth parameters were also taken during the 8 week experiment every 2 weeks. For growth parameters, dry tissue weight, dry shell weight, length, width, and thickness are reported.

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 includes lab-based measurements of ocean acidification on Caribbean bioeroders (endolithic algae and reef-excavating sponges) collected on Cheeca Rocks Reef, Florida Keys, Northwest Atlantic Ocean, from 2018-06-11 to 2018-07-12. Caribbean coral reef ecosystems have entered a state of net erosion in response to ocean acidification (OA) due to a combination of reduced carbonate production and enhanced bioerosion. The negative response of coral reef calcifiers to OA has been well-established, whereas OA-enhanced bioerosion is relatively poorly understood. Microboring algae and macroboring sponges are both major contributors to coral reef carbonate budgets (Perry et al., 2012). Microboring algae use exclusively chemical (extracellular ion transport) means (Garcia-Pichel, 2006) to break down carbonate framework, whereas macroboring sponges use a combination of both chemical (enzymatic dissolution) and mechanical (substrate dislodgment) methods (Rutzler and Rieger, 1973) to erode reef framework. Prior studies have found that both microboring algae and macroboring sponges appear to benefit from OA through both enhanced bioerosion and physiological fitness, but have disproportionally focused on the responses of Pacific Ocean species. Here, we independently evaluated the OA-response of two Caribbean bioeroders to quantify the impact of OA on their physiology and bioerosion rates.

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 is data from a laboratory experiment in which mature female Tanner crabs were held at three different pHs (ambient, pH 7.8, and pH 7.5) for approximately two years. The laboratory exposure started on 2011-06-21 and ended on 2013-07-14. At the end of the exposure period samples of both the exoskeleton and claw were taken. Exoskeleton mechanical and elemental properties were analyzed in both the carapace and the claw. This dataset includes only the data from the cuticle analysis. The results of this work are published as: Dickenson, G.H., Bejerano, S., Salvador, T., Makdisi, C., Patel, S., Long, W.C., Swiney, K.M., Foy, R.J., Steffel, B.V., Smith, K.E., and Aaronson, R.B. 2021. Ocean acidification alters exoskeleton properties in adult Tanner crabs, Chionoecetes baridi. J. Exp. Biol. 224: jeb232819. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.232819.

Impacts of elevated carbon dioxide on marine ecosystems depend on physiological responses to consequential decreased pH and increased temperature. Responses to these environmental factors vary among species and life stages, and interactive effects can be significant. To study effects of decreased pH and increased temperature on juvenile red king crab (RKC, Paralithodes camtschaticus) we exposed individuals to three levels of temperature: 11 degrees Celsius (ambient), 13 degrees Celsius, and 14 degrees Celsius, crossed with three levels of pH: 8.0, 7.8 and 7.5, for a total of nine treatments. To better understand the effect of these environmental changes at the level of genome regulation, we analyzed total RNA of whole crabs using Illumina-based RNA-seq whole-transcriptome sequencing. We assembled a RKC transcriptome using Trinity, annotated the transcriptome using Trinotate, and estimated expression levels using bowtie2, samtools and eXpress. Differentially expressed genes were identified using EdgeR. Genes were clustered by expression patterns. Interactive effects were determined by comparing sets of differentially expressed genes using three statistical models to examine the effect of temperature, the effect of pH, and the interaction between temperature and pH in EdgeR. The largest set of differentially expressed genes encoded proteins involved in regulation of extracellular and cuticular structures, including chitin-binding and calcification related proteins.