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.