Tolerant Larvae and Sensitive Juveniles: Integrating Metabolomics and Whole-Organism Responses to Define Life-Stage Specific Sensitivity to Ocean Acidification in the American Lobster.

Bentho-pelagic life cycles are the dominant reproductive strategy in marine invertebrates, providing great dispersal ability, access to different resources, and the opportunity to settle in suitable habitats upon the trigger of environmental cues at key developmental moments. However, free-dispersing larvae can be highly sensitive to environmental changes. Among these, the magnitude and the occurrence of elevated carbon dioxide (CO) concentrations in oceanic habitats is predicted to exacerbate over the next decades, particularly in coastal areas, reaching levels beyond those historically experienced by most marine organisms.

Energy metabolism and survival of the juvenile recruits of the American lobster (Homarus americanus) exposed to a gradient of elevated seawater pCO.

The transition from the last pelagic larval stage to the first benthic juvenile stage in the complex life cycle of marine invertebrates, such as the American lobster Homarus americanus, a species of high economic importance, represents a delicate phase in these species development. Under future elevated pCO conditions, ocean acidification and other elevated pCO events can negatively affect crustaceans. This said their effects on the benthic settlement phase are virtually unknown.