Baby Squid Raised In Acidified Seawater Hatch Later, Are Smaller Than Those Raised Under Current Ph

[hatrack]

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Mooney and his colleagues trawled for Atlantic longfin squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) from the Vineyard Sound off of Massachusetts. The researchers brought the squid to the laboratory and kept some in tanks with a pH of about 8. On the pH scale, 7 is neutral, and 8 slightly basic. The open ocean today has a pH of about 8, which is a decline of about 0.1 pH units since pre-industrial times, an increase in acidification attributable to carbon dioxide produced by humans.

Researchers kept the rest of the squid in tanks with a more acidic pH of about 7.3. Climate projections suggest the open ocean could reach this level of acidification in about 100 to 200 years, Mooney told LiveScience. In coastal areas, where acidity is more variable, a pH of 7.3 sometimes already occurs.

The researchers allowed the squid to mate and lay eggs in the tanks, and then tracked how long it took those eggs to hatch. The scientists found that squid raised in a more acidic environment developed more slowly, emerging from their eggs about 24 hours later, on average, than the squid placed in normal ocean conditions. The delay is bad news for baby squid, which are defenseless fish-food in their egg stage.

"The longer you're an egg sitting there, the more likely you are to get eaten," Mooney said.

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http://www.livescience.com/37058-ocean-acidification-threatens-squid.html

[kestrel91316]

1. We keep this up much longer, we're gonna kill everything but the microbes.