Effects of parental acclimation and energy limitation in response to high CO2 exposure in Atlantic cod

Whether species have the potential to acclimate and adapt to changes in the seawater carbonate chemistry is still largely unanswered. Simulation experiments across several generations are challenging for large commercially exploited species because of their long generation times.

For Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), we present first data on the effects of parental acclimation to elevated aquatic CO2 on larval survival, a fundamental parameter determining population recruitment. The parental generation in this study was exposed to either ambient or elevated aquatic CO2 levels simulating end-of-century OA levels (~1100 µatm CO2) for six weeks prior to spawning. Upon fully reciprocal exposure of the F1 generation, we quantified larval survival, combined with two larval feeding regimes in order to investigate the potential effect of energy limitation.