Acidifying oceans could hit California mussels, a key species

Public release date: 14-Jul-2011

Contact: Andy Fell
ahfell@ucdavis.edu
530-752-4533
http://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California - Davis

Acidifying oceans could hit California mussels, a key species

Ocean acidification, a consequence of climate change, could weaken the shells of California mussels and diminish their body mass, with serious implications for coastal ecosystems, UC Davis researchers will report July 15 in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

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In the lab, Gaylord and his colleagues raised mussels from fertilization to the point where they were ready to settle, rearing them in both normal seawater and in water with two different conditions of elevated acidity. The acidity levels were based on projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a Geneva-based scientific body established by the United Nations. One of the elevated acid levels assumed continued heavy use of fossil fuels; the other assumed a more optimistic scenario.

Compared to those raised in normal seawater, the young mussels living in the more acid waters had smaller, thinner, weaker shells, and as much as a third less body mass.

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Although not an important fishery, the California mussel is a vital coastal species because so many other marine creatures depend on it for food and habitat.

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