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Short-term exposure to hypercapnia does not compromise feeding, acid–base balance or respiration of Patella vulgata but surprisingly is accompanied by radula damage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2010

Hannah K. Marchant ,
Piero Calosi  and
John I. Spicer
Hannah K. Marchant
Affiliation:
Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, UK
Piero Calosi*
Affiliation:
Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, UK
John I. Spicer
Affiliation:
Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, UK
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: P. Calosi, Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, UK e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The effect of short-term (5 days) exposure to CO2-acidified seawater (year 2100 predicted values, ocean pH = 7.6) on key aspects of the function of the intertidal common limpet Patella vulgata (Gastropoda: Patellidae) was investigated. Changes in extracellular acid–base balance were almost completely compensated by an increase in bicarbonate ions. A concomitant increase in haemolymph Ca2+ and visible shell dissolution implicated passive shell dissolution as the bicarbonate source. Analysis of the radula using SEM revealed that individuals from the hypercapnic treatment showed an increase in the number of damaged teeth and the extent to which such teeth were damaged compared with controls. As radula teeth are composed mainly of chitin, acid dissolution seems unlikely, and so the proximate cause of damage is unknown. There was no hypercapnia-related change in metabolism (O2 uptake) or feeding rate, also discounting the possibility that teeth damage was a result of a CO2-related increase in grazing. We conclude that although the limpet appears to have the physiological capacity to maintain its extracellular acid–base balance, metabolism and feeding rate over a 5 days exposure to acidified seawater, radular damage somehow incurred during this time could still compromise feeding in the longer term, in turn decreasing the top-down ecosystem control that P. vulgata exerts over rocky shore environments.

Keywords

acid–base balancehypercapniamolluscocean acidificationoxygen uptakeradula
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 90 , Issue 7 , November 2010 , pp. 1379 - 1384
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

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