Description: Responses by marine species to ocean acidification (OA) have recently been shown to be modulated by external factors including temperature, food supply and salinity. However the role of a fundamental biological parameter relevant to all organisms, that of body size, in governing responses to multiple stressors has been almost entirely overlooked. Recent consensus suggests allometric scaling of metabolism with body size differs between species, the commonly cited 'universal' mass scaling exponent (b) of ¾ representing an average of exponents that naturally vary. One model, the Metabolic-Level Boundaries hypothesis, provides a testable prediction: that b will decrease within species under increasing temperature. However, no previous studies have examined how metabolic scaling may be directly affected by OA. We acclimated a wide body-mass range of three common NE Atlantic echinoderms (the sea star Asterias rubens, the brittlestars Ophiothrix fragilis and Amphiura filiformis) to two levels of pCO2 and three temperatures, and metabolic rates were determined using closed-chamber respirometry. The results show that contrary to some models these echinoderm species possess a notable degree of stability in metabolic scaling under different abiotic conditions; the mass scaling exponent (b) varied in value between species, but not within species under different conditions. Additionally, we found no effect of OA on metabolic rates in any species. These data suggest responses to abiotic stressors are not modulated by body size in these species, as reflected in the stability of the metabolic scaling relationship. Such equivalence in response across ontogenetic size ranges has important implications for the stability of ecological food webs.

Description: Ocean acidification (OA) and hypoxic events are increasing worldwide problems, their interactive effects have not been well clarified, although their co-occurrence is prevalent. The East China Sea (the Yangtze River estuary area) suffers from not only coastal hypoxia but also pH fluctuation, representing an ideal study site to explore the combined effect of OA and hypoxia on marine bivalves. We experimentally evaluated the antioxidant response of the mussel Mytilus coruscus exposed to three pH levels (8.1, 7.7 and 7.3) at two dissolved oxygen (DO) levels (2.0 mg/L and 6.0 mg/L) for 72h. Activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, acid phosphatase, and alkaline phosphatase and levels of malondialdehyde were measured in gills and hemolymph. All enzymatic activities in hemolymph and gills followed a similar pattern throughout the experiment duration. Generally, low DO showed greater effects on enzyme activities than elevated CO2. Significant interactions between DO, pH and time were only observed at superoxide dismutase and catalase in both tissues. PCA revealed positive relationships between most enzyme activities in both gills and hemolymph with the exception of alkaline phosphatase activity and the level of malondialdehyde in the hemolymph. Overall, our results suggested that decreased pH and low DO induced similar antioxidant responses in the hard shelled mussel, and showed an additive effect on most enzyme activities. The evaluation of multiple environmental stressors, a more realistic scenario than single ones, is crucial to predict the effect of future global changes on coastal species and our results supply some insights on the potential combined effects of reduced pH and DO on marine bivalves.