Seawater carbonate chemistry and biomechanical properties of the skeletal plates of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816)

Sea urchins, ecologically important herbivores of shallow subtidal temperate reefs, are considered particularly threatened in a future ocean acidification scenario, since their carbonate structures (skeleton and grazing apparatus) are made up of the very soluble high-magnesium calcite, particularly sensitive to a decrease in pH. The biomechanical properties of their skeletal structures are of great importance for their individual fitness, because the skeleton provides the means for locomotion, grazing and protection from predators. Sea urchin skeleton is composed of discrete calcite plates attached to each other at sutures by organic ligaments. The present study addressed the fate of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) skeleton in acidified oceans, taking into account the combined effect of reduced pH and macroalgal diet, with potential cascading consequences at the ecosystem level. A breaking test on individual plates of juvenile specimens fed different macroalgal diets has been performed, teasing apart plate strength and stiffness from general robustness. Results showed no direct short-term effect of a decrease in seawater pH nor of the macroalgal diet on single plate mechanical properties. Nevertheless, results from apical plates, the ones presumably formed during the experimental period, provided an indication of a possible diet-mediated response, with sea urchins fed the more calcified macroalga sustaining higher forces before breakage than the one fed the non-calcified algae. This, on the long term, may produce bottom-up effects on sea urchins, leading to potential shifts in the ecosystem equilibrium under an ocean acidified scenario.

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Cite this as

Asnaghi, Valentina, Collard, Marie, Mangialajo, Luisa, Gattuso, Jean-Pierre, Dubois, Philippe (2023). Dataset: Seawater carbonate chemistry and biomechanical properties of the skeletal plates of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816). https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.960351

DOI retrieved: 2023

Additional Info

Field Value
Imported on November 29, 2024
Last update November 30, 2024
License CC-BY-4.0
Source https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.960351
Author Asnaghi, Valentina
Given Name Valentina
Family Name Asnaghi
More Authors
Collard, Marie
Mangialajo, Luisa
Gattuso, Jean-Pierre
Dubois, Philippe
Source Creation 2023
Publication Year 2023
Resource Type text/tab-separated-values - filename: Asnaghi-etal_2018_MER
Subject Areas
Name: BiologicalClassification

Name: Biosphere

Name: Chemistry

Name: Ecology

Name: Oceans

Related Identifiers
Title: Bottom-up effects on biomechanical properties of the skeletal plates of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) in an acidified ocean scenario
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.12.002
Type: DOI
Relation: References
Year: 2019
Source: Marine Environmental Research
Authors: Asnaghi Valentina , Collard Marie , Mangialajo Luisa , Gattuso Jean-Pierre , Dubois Philippe , Gattuso Jean-Pierre , Epitalon Jean-Marie , Lavigne Héloïse , Orr James , Gentili Bernard , Hagens Mathilde , Hofmann Andreas , Mueller Jens-Daniel , Proye Aurélien , Rae James , Soetaert Karline .

Title: seacarb: seawater carbonate chemistry with R. R package version 3.3.1
Identifier: https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/seacarb/index.html
Type: DOI
Relation: References
Year: 2022
Authors: Asnaghi Valentina , Collard Marie , Mangialajo Luisa , Gattuso Jean-Pierre , Dubois Philippe , Gattuso Jean-Pierre , Epitalon Jean-Marie , Lavigne Héloïse , Orr James , Gentili Bernard , Hagens Mathilde , Hofmann Andreas , Mueller Jens-Daniel , Proye Aurélien , Rae James , Soetaert Karline .