Effects of ocean acidification and warming on the development and biochemical responses of juvenile shrimp Palaemon elegans (Rathke, 1837)

Anthropogenic CO2 emissions have led to the warming and acidification of the oceans. Although, there is a growing of evidence showing that simultaneous occurrence of ocean acidification and ocean warming are threats to marine organisms, information on their combined effect on coastal shrimp species remains scarce. The purpose of this study was to estimate the combined effects of seawater acidification and warming on growth-related traits and biochemical responses of P. elegans juveniles. In this work, shrimp were exposed for 65 days at 4 experimental conditions: pH 8.10 * 18 degrees C, pH 7.80 * 18 degrees C, pH 8.10 * 22 degrees C, pH 7.80 * 22 degrees C. The results showed that low pH decreases the lipid content by similar to 13% (p < 0.05). Higher temperature reduced the condition factor by similar to 11%, the protein content by -20%, the PUFA by similar to 8,6% and shortened moulting events by 5 days (p > 0.05) while the SFA increased -9.4%. The decrease in condition factor and protein was however more prominent in organisms exposed to the combination of pH and temperature with a decrease of similar to 13% and similar to 21%, respectively. Furthermore, essential fatty acids as EPA and DHA also decreased by similar to 20% and similar to 6.6% in low pH and higher temperature condition. Despite this study suggest that warming may have a greater impact than acidification, it has been shown that their combined effect can exacerbate these impacts with consequences for the shrimp's body size and biochemical profile.

Automated summary

This study investigated the combined effects of seawater acidification and warming on growth and biochemical responses of juvenile shrimp, finding that these factors decrease lipid and protein content, impacting body size and biochemical profile.