Effects of seawater acidification on the early development of sea urchin Glyptocidaris crenularis

In this study, we evaluated the effects of CO_2-induced seawater acidification on fertilization, embryogenesis and early larval development in the sea urchin Glyptocidaris crenularis, that inhabits subtidal coastal areas in northern China. The range in seawater p H used in experiments was based on the projections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC), to the year 2100. A natural seawater treatment(p H_(nbs) =7.98±0.03) and three laboratory-controlled acidified treatments(OA_1, ΔpH_(nbs) =-0.3 units; OA_2, ΔpH_(nbs) =-0.4 units; OA_3, ΔpH_(nbs) =-0.5 units) were used in experiments. Results show that:(1) there was a negative effect of seawater acidification on fertilization and on the percentage of abnormal fertilized eggs;(2) the size of early cleavage stage embryos decreased in a dose-dependent manner with decreasing p H;(3) both the hatching rate of blastulae and the survival rate of four-armed pluteus larvae decreased as pH declined;(4) larval abnormalities including asymmetrical development, changes in the length of skeletal elements, and corroded spicules were observed in all seawater acidified-treatments compared with the control. These data indicate that seawater acidification has a negative impact on the early development of G. crenularis, and supports the hypothesis that the response of echinoderms to ocean acidification(OA) varies among species. Further research is required to clarify the specific cellular mechanisms involved.