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Population connectivity and gene flow in near shore Antarctic Echinoids (Sterechinus neumayeri, Abatus nimrodi and Abatus ingens) was investigated in East Antarctica. This data set consists of microsatellite genotype data from 11 novel loci and mitochondrial DNA sequences from two gene region, COI and 16S. In addition, to determine if changes in temperature and salinity impacted fertilisation success in S. neumayeri, and to determine the appropriate sperm to egg ratio for this type of experiment, a fertilisation experiment was completed using various combinations of temperature, salinity and sperm to egg ratio. Samples were collected near two Australian Antarctic research stations, Casey and Davis, during the 08/09 and 09/10 summer field seasons. To generate the microsatellite data set, a total of 545 adults, nuemayeri and 26 echinoplutei were collected. Spatial replication was achieved by comparing adult populations between two regions (Casey and Davis). These two regions are separated by approximately 1400 km. Sampling in the Casey region was done at two locations 9 km apart and in the Davis region at five locations separated by 5 - 30 km. Within each location 25-50 individuals were collected from up to three sites approximately 0.5 km apart. Within each site, all individuals were collected within an area less than 50 m2. Adult urchins were collected by dip nets, snorkel or scuba depending on location. Echinoplutei were collected from the water column in two locations in the Davis region using a purpose built plankton net. DNA was extracted using QiagenDNeasy Blood and Tissue extraction kits as per the manufacturer's protocols. PCR amplification was carried out in four multiplex reactions and analysis of the PCR product was carried out on a CEQ 8000 (Beckman Coulter) automated sequencer by capillary separation, and alleles scored as fragment size using CEQ 8000 Genetic Analysis System software (ver. 8.0). Data available: Data consists of 571 individual genotypes at 11 loci in an excel spreadsheet following the GenAlEx v 6.41 layout. Sites from the Davis region are; Old Wallow 1 (OW1), Old Wallow 2 (OW2), Boyd Island (BO1), Ellis Fjord 1 (EL1), Ellis Fjord 2 (EL2), Ellis Fjord 3 (EL3), Trigwell Island 1 (TR1), Trigwell Island 2 (TR2), Trigwell Island 3 (TR3), Zappit Point 1 (ZP1), Zappit Point 2 (ZP2), Zappit Point 3 (ZP3). Sites from the Casey region are; Browning Peninsula 1 (CB1), Browning Peninsula 2 (CB2), Browning Peninsula 3 (CB3), Sparkes Bay 1 (CS1), Sparkes Bay 2 (CS2).Echinoplutei samples are Hawker Island (D1); Kazak Island 1 (K1); Kazak Island 2 (K2) Data is coded as fragment length, with a zero value representing no data. To generate the mtDNA sequence data, a total of 24 S. neumayeri individuals were sequenced for the COI gene region with two haplotypes found. For the 16S gene region, 25 individuals were sequenced with three haplotypes founds. For Abatusingens, 51 individuals were sequenced with six CO1 haplotypes and five 16S haplotypes. For Abatus nimrodi (n = 48) there were two CO1 haplotypes and eight 16S haplotypes. In addition, eight A. shackeltoni, four A. philippii and one A. cavernosus sample were included from the Davis region. Data available: data are available in four FASTA text format files, one for Abatus COI data, one forAbatus 16S data, one for Sterechinus COI data. Individuals are coded with the first two letters representing species (SN = S. neumayeri, AN = A. nimrodi, AI = A. ingens, AS = A. shackletoni, AC= A. cavernosus) the next two representing gene region (CO = COI, 16 = 16S) and either three or four more digits for Davis region samples or five digits beginning with 41 for Casey region samples. To generate the fertilisation data set, S. neumayeri were collected from Ellis Fjord prior to ice breakout. A total of 12 individuals were screened for the fertilisation experiment, seven males and five females to ensure a suitable cross where greater than 90% fertilisation success was achievable. Sperm were activated with FSW at -1.8 degrees C and sperm concentration determined using a haemocytometer. Three temperature treatments, (-1.8 degrees C, 1 degrees C and 3 degrees C), three salinity treatments (35ppt, 30ppt and 25ppt), and five sperm to egg ratios (50:1, 100:1, 500:1, 1500:1 and 2500:1) were used during fertilisation, with four replicates at each temperature:salinity:sperm to egg ratio combination. After 30 min, three to five drops of 10% formalin were added to each vial to fix eggs and to prevent further fertilisation from occurring. To determine percentage fertilisation, the first 100 eggs encountered from each vial were scored as either fertilised or unfertilised based on the presence or absence of an elevated fertilisation membrane. Data available: Data are available as an excel file, with three spreadsheets, one for each temperature treatment. Each spreadsheet consists of three tables, one for each salinity treatment. Each salinity treatment table consists of five columns. From left to right these are; sperm : egg ratio - Sperm to egg ratio, rep. No. - replicate number, Fert. - number of fertilised eggs counted Unfert. - number of unfertilised eggs counted Mean- mean number of fertilised eggs counted
Metadata record for data from AAS (ASAC) project 3134. Data from this project will be available via the child records. Public Ocean acidification and warming are global phenomena that will impact marine biota through the 21st century. This project will provide urgently needed predictive information on the likely survivorship of benthic invertebrates in near shore Antarctic environments that is crucial for risk assessment of potential future changes to oceans. As oceans acidify carbonate saturation decreases, reducing the material required to produce marine skeletons. By examining the effects of increased ocean temperature and acidification on planktonic and benthic life stages of both calcifying and non-calcifying ecologically important organisms, predictions can be made on the potential vulnerability of marine biota to climatic change. Project Objectives: This project aims to deliver one of the first assessments of the impacts that ocean warming and acidification through rising CO2 levels will have on Antarctic benthic marine invertebrates and of the adaptive capacity of common Antarctic biota to climate change. The developmental success of species that have a skeleton will be compared to those that do not under controlled conditions of increased sea water temperature and CO2. A comparison of the responses and sensitivity of developmental stages of calcifiers (echinoids, bivalves) and non-calcifiers (asteroids) to elevated CO2 and temperature will generate much needed empirical data for assessment of risk and adaptive capacity of Antarctica's marine biota and will enable predictions of how benthic invertebrates will fare with respect to climate change scenarios. The specific aims of the project are to: 1 - examine the impacts of predicted future elevated ocean temperatures and CO2 on fertilisation success, embryonic and larval development of Antarctic molluscs and echinoderms 2 - document skeletal calcification and morphology and growth in larvae under controlled conditions of increased sea water temperature and CO2. 3 - compare the dynamics of biomineralisation with respect to the elemental composition in response to increased temperature and CO2 in species with aragonite and calcite exoskeletons (bivalves) and porous high magnesium calcite endoskeletons (echinoids) to assess the potential for an in-built adaptive response in calcification 4 - used as a biomarker measure of stress and impaired calcification. 5 - compare biomineralisation and elemental signatures in skeletons in larvae of Antarctic molluscs and echinoderms under climate change scenarios with that determined for related species at lower latitudes to assess the relative sensitivity and vulnerability of Antarctic biota. Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report: Progress against objectives: 1. Unsuccessful as target species, Sterechinus neumayeri had already passed its spawning period, and attempts to spawn and fertilise the Antarctic bivalve, Laternula ellipticaskeleta failed. 2. Skeletal calcification and morphology of juveniles of Abatus nimrodi were successfully documented under controlled conditions of ocean warming and acidification. 3. Juveniles of A. nimrodi were preserved and returned to Australia in order to compare the dynamics of biomineralisation and skeletal mineralogy. 4. No heat shock protein experiments were carried out. 5. Air-dried tests of S. neumayeri and A. nimrodi were RTA'd in order to compare the dynamics of biomineralisation and skeletal mineralogy. Taken from some project abstracts written by two students working on the project: Impacts of ocean acidification and increasing seawater temperature on the early life history of the Antarctic echinoderm Sterechinus neumayeri. Simultaneous effects of ocean acidification and temperature change in Antarctic environments warrant investigation as little is known about the synergistic consequences of these parameters on Antarctic benthic species. Fertilisation success, embryo cleavage, blastulation and gastrulation were documented in the sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri, reared for up to 12 days under experimental pCO2 and elevated temperature scenarios predicted by the IPCC (2007) over the next century. Experimental treatments included controls (-1 degrees C, pH 8.0), elevated temperature (1 degrees C, 3 degrees C) and decreased pH (7.8, 7.6) in all combinations in a multi-factorial design. Preliminary results suggest that fertilisation and development up to the gastrula stages are robust to increases in pCO2 and temperature predicted by the year 2100. Percentages of normally developing blastula and gastrula were also slightly higher in temperatures 2 degrees C above ambient. Impacts of ocean acidification and increasing seawater temperature on juveniles of two Antarctic heart urchins, Abatus ingens and Abatus shackletoni. Simultaneous effects of ocean acidification and temperature change in Antarctic environments warrant investigation as little is known about the synergistic consequences of these factors on Antarctic benthic species. Juvenile Abatus ingens and Abatus shackletoni were incubated under experimental pCO2 and elevated temperature scenarios reflective of those predicted by the IPCC (2007). Direct development from embryos to juveniles occurs in these species without a pelagic larval phase and the developing young are lecithotrophic for an extended period. Adult urchins were collected near Davis Station during the Austral summer season (January-February 2011). Juveniles were extracted from the parental brood pouch and reared in flow-through experimental treatments for 4 weeks. CO2-enriched air was supplied to seawater in which pCO2 was regulated at the target levels of 448 plus or minus 6.51 (pH 8.01 plus or minus 0.005), 846 plus or minus 6.58 (pH 7.83 plus or minus 0.005) and 1371 plus or minus 7.34 (pH 7.63 plus or minus 0.007) ppm and seawater temperature was set at -1 plus or minus 0.03 degrees C (Control) and 1 plus or minus 0.32 degrees C. Preliminary results from this investigation showed significant increases in spine growth in juveniles of both A.ingens and A. shackletoni over the experimental period. However, juveniles reared in 1 degrees C significantly exhibited more incidences of epithelial separation in the spines compared to those reared in -1 degrees C. This suggests that, although there is an inherent capacity for tolerance of varying levels of pH in seawater in the absence of the protection afforded by the maternal brood pouch, these juveniles are still at risk from increasing temperatures.
Data on the morphological and reproductive responses of 4 species of wild caught Abatus heart urchins (A. nimrodi, A. shackletoni, A. ingens, and A. philippii) to sewage effluent from the Davis station sewage outfall. Between 19 and 21 individuals of each species were collected from three sites close to the station. The Sewage outfall site, which acted as the impacted site for the study, and two reference sites, one at Airport Beach, and a second and Heidemann Bay. Morphological measurements taken from each individual were length, width, height, anterior length, and posterior length. A qualitative assessment of the calcareous test of each individual was conducted to determine the presence of any abnormalities (as per Land 2005, PhD thesis) in the individuals morphology. Reproductive data collected were a gonadosotic index (calculated by dividing the gonal mass of a individual by the total mass of that individual). And for females morphological measurements (length and width) of each brood pouch were taken, and the type and number of juveniles in each pouch was counted. Data available: In the spreadsheet provided a description of measurements is given in the first tab. All morphological and reproductive data is presented in the second tab. In full these are; Parent Barcode (for tracking purposes) Individual Barcode (for tracking purposes), date collected (date the animal was collected) date processed (date data were collected) site (site the animal came from) species (nimrodi, shackletoni, ingens, or philippii) sex (male or female) samples taken for other projects (morphology, genetics, histology) Morphological measurements (length, width, height, posterior length, anterior length, all recorded in millimetres) Any of a possible 6 abnormalities observed. Brood pouch morphometrics (length and width in millimeters of each of the 4 brood pouches for a female) Reproductive fitness, being the number of young at any of 3 stages in each of the 4 brood pouches and the total number of juveniles produced by the adult female. Total Wet Mass (mass of the entire animal recorded in grams) Gonad Wet Mass (mass of the gonad of an individual) Gonadosmotic Index (measure of reproductive fitness, and is the Gonad Wet Mass divided by the Total Wet Mass of each individual) A blank datasheet used to record the data is contained within the third tab. The two final tabs are appendices used to aid the qualitative assessments. The first (Appendix 1) gives photo descriptions of each of the known abnormalities in Abatus sp (Adapted from Lane (2005) PhD thesis). The second (Appendix 2) gives photo descriptions of each of the developmental stages of juveniles in Abatus sp.
This data set describes details of test measurements and numbers of brooded juveniles for Abatus nimrodi and Abatus ingens heart urchins collected from uncontaminated sites in O'Brien Bay and along a contamination gradient in Brown Bay. This work falls under the umbrella project ASAC_2201. The fields in this dataset are: Species Location Date ID Length Width Mouth Length Pouch Length Young Notes
Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 1005 Metal and organic contaminants in marine invertebrates from Antarctica, field study of their concentrations, laboratory study of their toxicities. See the link below for public details on this project. Data from this project are now unrecoverable. Several publications arising from the work are attached to this metadata record, and are available to AAD staff only. Taken from the referenced publications: Bioaccumulation of Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn in the Antarctic gammaridean amphipod Paramoera walkeri was investigated at Casey station. The main goals were to provide information on accumulation strategies of the organisms tested and to verify toxicokinetic models as a predictive tool. The organisms accumulated metals upon exposure and it was possible to estimate significant model parameters of two compartment and hyperbolic models. These models were successfully verified in a second toxicokinetic study. However, the application of hyperbolic models appears to be more promising as a predictive tool for metals in amphipods compared to compartment models, which have failed to adequately predict metal accumulation in experiments with increasing external exposures in previous studies. The following kinetic bioconcentration factors (BCFs) for the theoretical equilibrium were determined: 150-630 (Cd), 1600-7000 (Pb), 1700-3800 (Cu) and 670-2400 (Zn). We find decreasing BCFs with increasing external metal dosing but similar results for treatments with and without natural UV radiation and for the combined effect of different exposure regimes (single versus multiple metal exposure) and/or the amphipod collective involved (Beall versus Denison Island). A tentative estimation showed the following sequence if sensitivity of P. walkeri to an increase of soluble metal exposure: 0.2-3.0 micrograms Cd per litre, 0.12-0.25 micrograms Pb per litre, 0.9-3.0 micrograms Cu per litre and 9-26 micrograms Zn per litre. Thus, the amphipod investigated proved to be more sensitive as biomonitor compared to gammarids from German coastal waters (with the exception of Cd) and to copepods from the Weddell Sea inferred from literature data. ####### This study provides information on LC50 toxicity tests and bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the nearshore Antarctic gammarid, Paramoera walkeri. The 4 day LC50 values were 970 micrograms per litre for copper and 670 micrograms per litre for cadmium. Net uptake rates and bioconcentration factors of these elements were determined under laboratory conditions. After 12 days of exposure to 30 micrograms per litre, the net uptake rates were 5.2 and 0.78 micrograms per gram per day and the bioconcentration factors were 2080 and 311 for copper and cadmium respectively. The body concentrations of copper were significantly correlated with the concentrations of this element in the water. Accumulation of copper and cadmium continued for the entire exposure suggesting that heavy metals concentrations were not regulated to constant concentrations in the body. Using literature data about two compartments (water-animal) first-order kinetic models, a very good agreement was found between body concentrations observed after exposure and model predicted. Exposure of P. walkeri to mixtures of copper and cadmium showed that accumulation of these elements can be assessed by addition of results obtained from single exposure, with only a small degree of uncertainty. The study provides information on the sensitivity of one Antarctic species towards contaminants, and the results were compared with data of similar species from lower latitudes. An important finding is that sensitivity to toxic chemicals and toxicokinetic parameters in the species investigated are comparable with those of non-polar species. The characteristics of bioaccumulation demonstrate that P. walkeri is a circumpolar species with the potential to be a standard biological indicator for use in monitoring programmes of Antarctic nearshore ecosystems. the use of model prediction provide further support to utilise these organisms for biomonitoring. ####### Heavy-metal concentrations were determined in tissues of different species of benthic invertebrates collected in the Casey region where an old waste-disposal tip site is a source of contamination. the species studied included the bivalve Laternula elliptica, starfish Notasterias armata, heart urchins Abatus nimrodi and A. ingens and gammaridean amphipod Paramoera walkeri. The specimens were collected at both reference and contaminated locations where lead was the priority element and copper was the next most important in terms of increased concentrations. The strong association between a gradient of contamination and concentrations in all species tested indicated that they are reflecting well the environmental changes, and that they appear as appropriate biological indicators of heavy-metal contamination. Aspects of the biology of species with different functional roles in the marine ecosystem are discussed in relation to their suitability for wider use in Antarctic monitoring programmes. For example, in terms of heavy-metal bioaccumulation, the bivalve appears as the most sensitive species to detect contamination; the starfish provides information on the transfer of metals through the food web while the heart urchin and gammarid gave indications of the spatial and temporal patterns of the environmental contamination. The information gathered about processes of contaminant uptake and partitioning among different tissues and species could be used in later studies to investigate the behaviour and the source of contaminants.
These data sets describe the toxicity of lead, coppyer, zinc and cadmium spiked seawater to the juveniles of Abatus ingens and Abatus nimrodi. Metals were tested separately over exposure periods of 96 and 240 hours. The experimental endpoint was mortality as defined by cessation of observable movement. The coding system for the data files is J(juvenile)_An (Abatus nimrodi) or Ai (Abatus ingens) - Metal name_Dates of the experiment_ the period of the observation (96 hour or 240 hour). This work falls under the umbrella project ASAC_2201. The fields in this dataset are: Species Toxicant Date Replicate Concentration Moving pH Salinity Dissolved Oxygen