Impact of ocean acidification and elevated temperatures on early juveniles of the polar shelled pteropod Limacina helicina: Mortality, shell degradation, and shell growth.

When pre-winter juvenile pteropods were cultured at a range of warmer temperatures and ocean acidification levels for 29 days, temperature was the overriding cause of increased mortality. However, ocean acidification was the main factor in reducing shell diameter by 10-12 percent and increasing shell degradation by 41 percent. This study suggests that rising temperature and ocean acidification may cause fewer pteropods to survive through the winter and reproduce the following year. (Laboratory study)