Ocean acidification and warming affects skeletal density in a marine fish

My work on the effect of ocean acidification and warming on skeletal mineralization in little skate using micro-computed tomography has just been published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B -> read it here or you can find it under publications. I found that skeletal mineralization (hydroxyapatite, HA) increased in the crura and the jaws of baby skates acclimated to high levels of CO2 that we expect by year 2100, while density decreased in the pectoral fins when acclimated to the higher temperature in the study (20°C). These changes in mineralization may have serious consequences for locomotion and energetics of skates as 1) less mineralized pectoral fins may need to be actively stiffened when swimming at higher speeds (read more about my research on swimming kinematics of little skate here and under publications), and 2) higher density of the cartilage in the crura may reduce buoyancy.

#oceanacidification #mineralization #CT #cartilage #oceanwarming #skate #elasmobranch #marinefish