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Climate Change 2016
October 27-29, 2016
Volume 7, Issue 9(Suppl) J Earth Sci Clim Change
ISSN: 2157-7617 JESCC, an open access journal
conferenceseries .com
October 24-26, 2016 Valencia, Spain
World Conference onClimate Change
Temperature effects on larval growth and survival in five species of Caribbean echinoids
Valentina Perricone1,2 and Rachel Collin 1
1Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute,
2University of Bologna, Italy
Under the climate change scenario, the possible effects of ocean warming were investigated on the larvae of five species of
Caribbean echinoids: Echinometra lucunter, Echinometra viridis, Clypeaster rosaceus, Tripneustes ventricosus and Lytechinus
williamsi. Their thermal tolerance was evaluated rearing them for six days under different temperature regimes (26, 28, 30, 32,
34, 36°C). The larval sensitivity to the treatments was evaluated on the base of survival and growth. The rearing at higher
temperatures has revealed a great suffering state of the larvae by inducing both reduction of live larvae and abnormality in
their development. Higher temperature treatments have shown a general lethal threshold at about 34°C for most of the species.
As an exception, the lethal threshold of Echinometra species was 36°C, few larvae of which being still capable of survival at the
temperature of 34°C. The studies have also analyzed the effect of water warming on the larvae development in terms of size
and symmetry. The results put in evidence the presence of a critical upper temperature (about 32°C) at which the larvae of all
species reveal a great suffering state that translates in the reduction of size (i.e., body, stomach and postero-dorsal arm) and
abnormalities (i.e., strong difference in the lengths of the two postero-dorsal arms). As sea surface temperatures are predicted
to increase of 4-5°C by 2100, the high percentage of abnormal larvae and their scarce survival observed at 32- 34°C treatments
indicate that the early stages of these species could be affected by future global warming.
Biography
Valentina Perricone has completed with honors her Master degree in Marine Biology at the age of 25 years from Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna.
Previously, she had completed with honors the Bachelor’s degree in Natural Science at the Federico II University of Naples in Italy. In 2015, thanks to a fellowship
of University of Bologna, she spent six months at the Bocas del Toro Research Station of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama) working on her
Master thesis, studying the temperature effects on larval growth and survival of Caribbean Echinoids.
Valentina Perricone et al., J Earth Sci Clim Change 2016, 7:9(Suppl)