Meeting Abstract

P2.121  Tuesday, Jan. 5  The effect of aerial temperature on behavior and respiration in two rocky intertidal snails. ZENEL, A.M.*; GILMAN, S.E.; CARRINGTON, E.; Scripps College alison.zenel@gmail.com

The rocky intertidal community has become a model system to study the effects of temperature on ecological processes, a topic of increasing importance in this time of climate change. Intertidal organisms are unique in facing two distinct thermal environments, at high and low tide. We studied the effects of aerial temperature on two species of rocky intertidal sea snails, Nucella ostrina and Nucella lamellosa, on San Juan Island, Washington. We first categorized six distinct behaviors of the snails, and determined the baseline respiration rate for each behavior of N. ostrina. We discovered that there is a significant difference in respiration rate among different behaviors. We then exposed both species to six different air temperatures for one hour, and measured the time needed to resume to normal behavior when reimmersed in seawater. There was no significant difference between recovery time after exposure to 15, 20, and 30°C, but recovery was significantly delayed after exposure to 33°C in both species. Temperatures above 33°C resulted in 100% mortality of both species. Finally, N. ostrina were exposed to five sublethal air temperatures for one hour, and their time to return to normal respiration rates in seawater were recorded. Exposure to 15, 20, and 25°C had no significant effect on respiration, whereas exposures to 30 and 33°C air significantly increased the time for N. ostrina to return to normal respiration. Our data demonstrates that the air temperatures that a snail experiences during low tide can influence its behavior when it is reimmersed in water at high tide.