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Individual and combined effects of low dissolved oxygen and low pH on survival of early stage larval blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus.

ABSTRACT: A large number of coastal ecosystems globally are subjected to concurrent hypoxic and acidified conditions that will likely intensify and expand with continued climate change. In temperate regions, the spawning of many important organisms including the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus occurs during the summer months when the severity of coastal hypoxia and acidification is the greatest. While the blue crab earliest larval stage can be exposed to co-occurring hypoxia and acidification observed in many coastal ecosystems, the effects of these concurrent stressors on larval blue crab survival is unknown. This study investigated the individual and combined consequences of low dissolved oxygen (DO) and low pH on blue crab larvae survival through a series of short-term experiments. During 14-day experiments with moderately hypoxic conditions (117-127 μM O2 or 3.74-4.06 mg L-1) and acidified conditions (pH on total scale of 7.16-7.33), low DO and low pH individually and significantly reduced larval survival by 60% and 49%, respectively, with the combination of stressors reducing survival by 87% compared to the control treatment (210-269 μM O2 or 6.72-8.61 mg L-1, 7.91-7.94 DO and pH, respectively). During 4-day experiments with lower DO levels (68-83 μM O2 or 2.18-2.62 mg L-1) and comparable pH levels of 7.29-7.39, low DO individually reduced survival by >90% compared to the control (261-267 μM O2 or 8.35-8.54 mg L-1, 7.92-7.97 DO and pH, respectively), whereas low pH had no effect and there was no interaction between stressors. Over a 4-day period, the DO threshold at which 50% of the larval blue crab population died (LC50) was 121 μM O2 (3.86 mgL-1). In 14-day experiments, the DO and pH effects were additive, yielding survival rates lower than the individual treatments, and significantly correlated with DO and pH concentrations. Collectively, these findings indicate that blue crab sensitivity to both low DO and low pH are acute within the larval stage, depend on the intensity and duration of exposure, and leads to mortality, thereby potentially contributing to the interannual variability and possible regional declines of this fishery.

SUBMITTER: Tomasetti SJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6285982 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundThe blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, is economically and ecologically important in western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastal estuaries. In 2010 blue crabs in the northern Gulf of Mexico were exposed to crude oil and chemical dispersants from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. To characterize the blue crab transcriptome and identify genes that could be regulated in response to oil exposure we sequenced transcriptomes from hepatopancreas and gill tissues of juvenile blue crabs after exposing them to a water-accommodated fraction of surrogate Macondo crude oil in the laboratory and compared them to transcriptomes from an unexposed control group.ResultsIllumina sequencing provided 42.5 million paired-end sequencing reads for the control group and 44.9 million paired-end reads for the treatment group. From these, 73,473 transcripts and 52,663 genes were assembled. Comparison of control and treatment transcriptomes revealed about 100 genes from each tissue type that were differentially expressed. However, a much larger number of transcripts, approximately 2000 from each tissue type, were differentially expressed. Several examples of alternatively spliced transcripts were verified by qPCR, some of which showed significantly different expression patterns. The combined transcriptome from all tissues and individuals was annotated to assign putative gene products to both major gene ontology categories as well as specific roles in responses to cold and heat, metabolism of xenobiotic compounds, defence, hypoxia, osmoregulation and ecdysis. Among the annotations for upregulated and alternatively-spliced genes were candidates for the metabolism of oil-derived compounds.ConclusionsPreviously, few genomic resources were available for blue crabs or related brachyuran crabs. The transcriptome sequences reported here represent a major new resource for research on the biology of blue crabs. These sequences can be used for studies of differential gene expression or as a source of genetic markers. Genes identified and annotated in this study include candidates for responses of the blue crab to xenobiotic compounds, which could serve as biomarkers for oil exposure. Changes in gene expression also suggest other physiological changes that may occur as the result of exposure to oil.

Project description:BackgroundOntogenetic variation in salinity adaptation has been noted for the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, which uses the export strategy for larval development: females migrate from the estuaries to the coast to spawn, larvae develop in the ocean, and postlarvae (megalopae) colonize estuarine areas. We hypothesized that C. sapidus larvae may be stenohaline and have limited osmoregulatory capacity which compromises their ability to survive in lower salinity waters. We tested this hypothesis using hatchery-raised larvae that were traceable to specific life stages. In addition, we aimed to understand the possible involvement of AQP-1 in salinity adaptation during larval development and during exposure to hyposalinity.ResultsA full-length cDNA sequence of aquaporin (GenBank JQ970426) was isolated from the hypodermis of the blue crab, C. sapidus, using PCR with degenerate primers and 5' and 3' RACE. The open reading frame of CasAQP-1 consists of 238 amino acids containing six helical structures and two NPA motifs for the water pore. The expression pattern of CasAQP-1 was ubiquitous in cDNAs from all tissues examined, although higher in the hepatopancreas, thoracic ganglia, abdominal muscle, and hypodermis and lower in the antennal gland, heart, hemocytes, ovary, eyestalk, brain, hindgut, Y-organs, and gill. Callinectes larvae differed in their capacity to molt in hyposalinity, as those at earlier stages from Zoea (Z) 1 to Z4 had lower molting rates than those from Z5 onwards, as compared to controls kept in 30 ppt water. No difference was found in the survival of larvae held at 15 and 30 ppt. CasAQP-1 expression differed with ontogeny during larval development, with significantly higher expression at Z1-2, compared to other larval stages. The exposure to 15 ppt affected larval-stage dependent CasAQP-1 expression which was significantly higher in Z2- 6 stages than the other larval stages.ConclusionsWe report the ontogenetic variation in CasAQP-1 expression during the larval development of C. sapidus and the induction of its expression at early larval stages in the exposure of hyposalinity. However, it remains to be determined if the increase in CasAQP-1 expression at later larval stages may have a role in adaptation to hyposalinity.

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Individual and combined effects of low dissolved oxygen and low pH on survival of early stage larval blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus.

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