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2012 Spring | Climate Change, Education & Outreach, Natural Science & Restoration

Effects of Ocean Acidification on Larval Lingcod

Student(s):

Erin Tomaras

Program or Department(s):

  • Program on the Environment
  • University of Washington

Site supervisor(s):

Johathan Reum

Partner(s):

  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Faculty advisor(s):

Terrie Klinger

My partner and I researched the effects of ocean acidification on larval lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus), a native Puget Sound fish. We examined how survivorship, growth, and behavioral development of the larvae were affected by living in water with differing pH levels. We reared a batch of lingcod eggs to the larval stage. Once hatched, we collected data on mortalities, body size measurements, schooling behavior, and activity behavior, and we compared treatments with different statistical analyses. We found that there were significant effects on behavior and growth. Overall, we found that pH has negative non-lethal effects, but no lethal effects.