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Strong Sensitivity of Red Sea Zooplankton to UV-B Radiation

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Abstract

The impacts of UV-B radiation to Red Sea coastal zooplankton was assessed experimentally at the time (May/June) of peak UV-B radiation, using the most abundant zooplankton species in the community (eight copepod genera, a cladoceran, an ostracod, a cumacean, and two meroplankton, including crab zoeae and megalopa). Mortality rates increased greatly in the presence of ambient UV-B radiation for all species tested except for Labidocera, Macrosetella, and the crab megalopa larvae. Mortality rates declined, on average, threefold when UV-B radiation was removed. These results provide evidence that Red Sea zooplankton are highly vulnerable to ambient levels of UV-B radiation.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University (grant no. 1-150/1433 HiCi). The authors, therefore, acknowledge with thanks the DSR technical and financial support. We thank Mr. Muaadh Al-Nuwarah, Mr. Ahmed Al-Haj, and Mr. Reny Devassy for their help in the field and the laboratory. We also thank Dr. Sambhu Chithambaran for providing facilities in the fish farm and Mr. Salman A. Al-Ahmadi and Mr. Bandar Al-Shareef for logistic assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80207, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia

    Ali M. Al-Aidaroos, Mohsen M. O. El-Sherbiny, Sathianeson Satheesh, Gopikrishna Mantha & Carlos M. Duarte

  2. Marine Science Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia-41522, Egypt

    Mohsen M. O. El-Sherbiny

  3. The UWA Oceans Institute and School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, 6009, Crawley, WA, Australia

    Susana Agustī & Carlos M. Duarte

  4. Department of Global Change Research, IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB) Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados, Miquel Marqués 21, 07190, Esporles, Spain

    Susana Agustī, Beatriz Carreja & Carlos M. Duarte

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  1. Ali M. Al-Aidaroos
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  2. Mohsen M. O. El-Sherbiny
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  3. Sathianeson Satheesh
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  5. Susana Agustī
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Correspondence to Carlos M. Duarte.

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Communicated by Wim J. Kimmerer

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Al-Aidaroos, A.M., El-Sherbiny, M.M.O., Satheesh, S. et al. Strong Sensitivity of Red Sea Zooplankton to UV-B Radiation. Estuaries and Coasts 38, 846–853 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-014-9868-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-014-9868-4

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