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How the green crab Carcinus maenas copes physiologically with a range of salinities

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Abstract

To evaluate the physiological ability to adjust to environmental variations of salinity, Carcinus maenas were maintained in 10, 20, 32 (control), 40, and 50 ppt (13.8 ± 0.6 °C) for 7 days. Closed respirometry systems were used to evaluate oxygen consumption (\({\dot{\text{M}}\text{O}}_{{2}}\)), ammonia excretion (Jamm), urea-N excretion (Jurea-N) and diffusive water fluxes (with 3H2O). Ions, osmolality, metabolites, and acid–base status were determined in the hemolymph and seawater, and transepithelial potential (TEP) was measured. At the lowest salinity, there were marked increases in \({\dot{\text{M}}\text{O}}_{{2}}\) and Jamm, greater reliance on N-containing fuels to support aerobic metabolism, and a state of internal metabolic alkalosis (increased [HCO3−]) despite lower seawater pH. At higher salinities, an activation of anaerobic metabolism and a state of metabolic acidosis (decreased [HCO3−] and increased [lactate]), in combination with respiratory compensation (decreased PCO2), were detected. TEP became more negative with decreasing salinity. Osmoregulation and osmoconformation occurred at low and high salinities, respectively, with complex patterns in individual ions; hemolymph [Mg2+] was particularly well regulated at levels well below the external seawater at all salinities. Diffusive water flux rates increased at higher salinities. Our results show that C. maenas exhibits wide plasticity of physiological responses when acclimated to different salinities and tolerates substantial disturbances of physiological parameters, illustrating that this species is well adapted to invade and survive in diverse habitats.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the BMSC staff, especially research co-ordinators Eric Clelland and Tao Eastham, for their support, and we appreciate the constructive reviewer comments.

Funding

The study was funded by an NSERC (Canada) Discovery Grant (RGPIN-2017-03843) to CMW.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Giorgi Dal Pont, Beverly Po, Jun Wang & Chris M. Wood

  2. Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, Bamfield, BC, V0R 1B0, Canada

    Giorgi Dal Pont, Beverly Po, Jun Wang & Chris M. Wood

  3. Integrated Group for Aquaculture and Environmental Studies, Department of Animal Science, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, 83035-050, Brazil

    Giorgi Dal Pont

  4. College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Jun Wang

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  1. Giorgi Dal Pont
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Contributions

The study was designed by all authors, and the experiments and measurements were performed by all authors. GDP and CMW wrote the first draft of the manuscript, JW and BP edited it, and all authors approved the final version.

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Correspondence to Chris M. Wood.

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Approval was obtained from Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre Invertebrate AUP RS-18-19; Fisheries and Oceans Canada Collection Permit XR 212 2019.

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Communicated by B. Pelster.

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Dal Pont, G., Po, B., Wang, J. et al. How the green crab Carcinus maenas copes physiologically with a range of salinities. J Comp Physiol B 192, 683–699 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-022-01458-1

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