Ocean acidification, a product of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, may already have affected calcified organisms in the coastal zone, such as bivalves and other shellfish. Understanding species’ responses to climate change requires the context of long-term dynamics. This can be particularly difficult given the longevity of many important species in ...

One page document summarizing the impact of ocean and coastal acidification on the Massachusetts Shellfish Industry. 

Ocean acidification (OA) is increasingly recognized as a major global problem. Despite the scientific evidence, economic assessments of its effects are few. This analysis is an attempt to perform a national and sub-national assessment of the economic impact of OA on mollusc production in Europe. We focus on mollusc production ...

Mussels are an ecologically and economically important taxon that attach to solid surfaces via the byssus. To date, little is known about the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on mussel byssal attachment and the underlying molecular byssal responses. This study demonstrated that after 1 week of exposure to acidified seawater, ...

Eighteen marine species exposed to ocean acidification conditions for 60 days exhibited a wide range of responses. Ten of the 18 species were affected negatively with lower rates of net calcification and, in some cases, net loss of shell. Those species included temperate corals, pencil urchins, hard clams, conchs, serpulid ...

Survival of dispersing larvae represents a critical bottleneck that influences the population size of zebra mussels.

This article provides an overview of how rivers, which tend to be acidic compared to the ocean, affect shellfish, with a focus on the Gulf of Maine.

Ocean acidification and/or warmer temperatures may affect immune response, parasite abundance and diversity, and bacterial infection of blue mussels. (Laboratory study)

After six months exposure, warmer temperatures, but not ocean acidification, significantly reduced the shell strength of blue mussels, which were fed for a limited period of only 4-6 hours per day. The rising temperatures seemed to affect shell strength indirectly, as the mussels apparently re-allocated energy from shell formation to ...

Blue mussels from the Baltic Sea grew less when raised for seven weeks under ocean acidification conditions and with limited food algae. Corrosion of the internal shell surface occurred at a range of ocean acidification levels when food supply was low. When food supply was high, corrosion occurred only in ...