Sea stars collected in Nova Scotia, Canada, grew more slowly under ocean acidification conditions, and their growth rate decreased further with a warmer temperature. In contrast, blue mussel grew more quickly with no response to temperature within the tested range. Predation of sea stars on mussels, measured as per-capita consumption ...

Ocean acidification conditions did not affect survival, body size, or developmental speed of a copepod species during any of its life stages. Egg production and hatching rates also did not change among generations of females exposed to ocean acidification conditions. Thus, this copepod appears more tolerant to ocean acidification than ...

Reproduction and larval development of two copepod species were sensitive to extreme ocean acidification conditions. The hatching rate tended to decrease, and mortality rate of young copepods tended to increase. (Laboratory study)

Under extreme ocean acidification conditions (pH 6.8), the egg production rates of copepods decreased significantly. For two species of sea urchins, fertilization rate of eggs decreased with increasing ocean acidification conditions. Furthermore, the size of urchin larvae decreased and deformities increased. These effects on marine life could lead to changes ...

Muscle length and claw strength of green crabs decreased after the crabs had been in ocean acidification conditions (pH 7.7) for 5 months. Periwinkles tended to have weaker shells in response to acidification. Predation by green crabs on periwinkles did not appear to change under ocean acidification conditions. (Laboratory study) ...

Some copepods (Calanus species) in the Arctic routinely encounter a range of seawater pH levels each day as they migrate vertically in the ocean; they were not severely affected when exposed to ocean acidification conditions in the laboratory. In contrast, a copepod species (Oithona similis) that does not vertically migrate, ...

When scientists collected pteropods living in the Southern Ocean, where high levels of CO2 caused low availability of calcium carbonate in the water for building shells, they found that the pteropods' shells had severely dissolved. In the laboratory, pteropods incubated under similar CO2 conditions had equivalent levels of dissolution. ...

Blue mussels exposed to highly acidified seawater for sixty days were able to protect their body tissues involved in reproduction, digestion, and respiration. However, the physiological defenses take energy away from other life processes, meaning that long-term exposure to ocean acidification may result in reduced growth and health of blue ...

Juvenile oysters living in acidified seawater had higher mortality rates and less growth of shell and soft-body tissues. They also had higher metabolic rates, likely because of the higher energy cost of maintaining their body chemistry. The high-CO2 conditions also reduced the hardness and fracture toughness of the shells. (Laboratory ...

Blue mussels in pH 7.1 seawater for 44 days had reduced shell growth, and those in pH 6.8 virtually stopped growing. In less acidified water—pH 7.4 or 7.6—shell growth was not significantly reduced.