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  • Environmental pH, O2 and Ca...
    Navarro, Michael O; Bockmon, Emily E; Frieder, Christina A; Gonzalez, Jennifer P; Levin, Lisa A

    Water (Basel), 2014, Volume: 6, Issue: 8
    Journal Article

    Spawning market squid lay embryo capsules on the seafloor of the continental shelf of the California Current System (CCS), where ocean acidification, deoxygenation and intensified upwelling lower the pH and O2. Squid statolith geochemistry has been shown to reflect the squid’s environment (e.g., seawater temperature and elemental concentration). We used real-world environmental levels of pH and O2 observed on squid-embryo beds to test in the laboratory whether or not squid statolith geochemistry reflects environmental pH and O2. We asked whether pH and O2 levels might affect the incorporation of element ratios (B:Ca, Mg:Ca, Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca, Pb:Ca, U:Ca) into squid embryonic statoliths as (1) individual elements and/or (2) multivariate elemental signatures, and consider future applications as proxies for pH and O2 exposure. Embryo exposure to high and low pH and O2 alone and together during development over four weeks only moderately affected elemental concentrations of the statoliths, and uranium was an important element driving these differences. Uranium:Ca was eight-times higher in statoliths exposed to low pHT (7.57–7.58) and low O2 (79–82 µmol·kg−1) than those exposed to higher ambient pHT (7.92–7.94) and O2 (241–243 µmol·kg−1). In a separate experiment, exposure to low pHT (7.55–7.56) or low O2 (83–86 µmol·kg−1) yielded elevated U:Ca and Sr:Ca in the low O2 treatment only. We found capsular effects on multiple elements in statoliths of all treatments. The multivariate elemental signatures of embryonic statoliths were distinct among capsules, but did not reflect environmental factors (pH and/or O2). We show that statoliths of squid embryos developing inside capsules have the potential to reflect environmental pH and O2, but that these “signals” are generated in concert with the physiological effects of the capsules and embryos themselves.