School of Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, SAR, Hong Kong.
Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, SAR, Hong Kong.
Sci Rep. 2017 Sep 21;7(1):12062. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-12253-2.
Ocean acidification (OA) is known to directly impact larval physiology and development of many marine organisms. OA also affects the nutritional quality and palatability of algae, which are principal food sources for many types of planktonic larvae. This potential indirect effect of OA via trophic interactions, however, has not been fully explored. In this study, veligers of Crepidula onyx were exposed to different pH levels representing the ambient (as control) and low pH values (pH 7.7 and pH 7.3) for 14 days, and were fed with Isochrysis galbana cultured at these three respective pHs. pH, diet, nor their interactions had no effect on larval mortality. Decrease in pH alone had a significant effect on growth rate and shell size. Structural changes (increased porosity) in larval shells were also observed in the low pH treatments. Interactions between acidification and reduced diet quality promoted earlier settlement. Unlike other calcifying molluscs, this population of slipper limpets introduced to Hong Kong in 1960s appeared to be resilient to OA and decreased algal nutritional value. If this robustness observed in the laboratory applies to the field, competition with native invertebrates may intensify and this non-native snail could flourish in acidified coastal ecosystems.
海洋酸化（OA）被认为会直接影响许多海洋生物的幼虫生理和发育。OA 还会影响藻类的营养价值和可食性，藻类是许多浮游幼虫的主要食物来源。然而，OA 通过营养相互作用的这种潜在间接影响尚未得到充分探索。在这项研究中，贻贝的面盘幼虫在 14 天内暴露于不同的 pH 值（代表环境 pH 值和低 pH 值，pH 值为 7.7 和 pH 值为 7.3），并喂食在这三个 pH 值下培养的等鞭金藻。pH 值、饮食及其相互作用均不会影响幼虫死亡率。单独降低 pH 值会显著影响生长速度和壳尺寸。在低 pH 值处理中还观察到幼虫壳的结构变化（增加了多孔性）。酸化和降低饮食质量之间的相互作用促进了早期定居。与其他钙化软体动物不同，这种于 20 世纪 60 年代引入香港的贻贝似乎对 OA 和降低的藻类营养价值具有弹性。如果实验室中观察到的这种稳健性适用于野外，那么与本地无脊椎动物的竞争可能会加剧，这种非本地蜗牛可能会在酸化的沿海生态系统中繁荣发展。
