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Creators/Authors contains: "Alcantar, Marina W"

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  1. An increase in anthropogenic carbon dioxide is driving oceanic chemical shifts resulting in a long-term global decrease in ocean pH, colloquially termed ocean acidification (OA). Previous studies have demonstrated that OA can have negative physiological consequences for calcifying organisms, especially during early life-history stages. However, much of the previous research has focused on static exposure to future OA conditions, rather than variable exposure to elevatedpCO2, which is more ecologically relevant for nearshore species. This study examines the effects of OA on embryonic and larval Pacific razor clams (Siliqua patula), a bivalve that produces a concretion during early shell development. Larvae were spawned and cultured over 28 days under threepCO2treatments: a static highpCO2of 867 μatm, a variable, dielpCO2of 357 to 867 μatm, and an ambientpCO2of 357 μatm. Our results indicate that the calcium carbonate polymorphism of the concretion phase ofS. patulawas amorphous calcium carbonate which transitioned to vaterite during the advanced D-veliger stage, with a final polymorphic shift to aragonite in adults, suggesting an increased vulnerability to dissolution under OA. However, exposure to elevatedpCO2appeared to accelerate the transition of larvalS. patulafrom the concretion stage of shell development to complete calcification. There was no significant impact of OA exposure to elevated or variablepCO2conditions onS. patulagrowth or HSP70 and calmodulin gene expression. This is the first experimental study examining the response of a concretion producing bivalve to future predicted OA conditions and has important implications for experimentation on larval mollusks and bivalve management. 
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