Investigating how differences in field acclimation during early development affect thermal tolerance of free-swimming larvae in Melanochlamys diomedea

Abstract

Marine invertebrates exhibit complex life cycles comprised of various stages, each of which face varying abiotic and biotic challenges. Understanding how environmental stressors affect species during developmental stages is important, as conditions experienced early in their life history can influence stages later on in life. For our project we examined whether differences in field environmental conditions during early development influence thermal tolerance at the larval stage of the cephalaspidean snail, Melanochlamys diomedea. Our results indicate that larvae which developed in the upper intertidal zone did not differ with regard to thermal tolerance from those which developed in lower zone. This study suggests that the thermal differences of the developmental environment do not impact the early free-swimming larval stage of M. diomedea.