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The effects of ocean acidification on hemocyte of crab species in Alaska from laboratory experiment studies from 2011-07-01 to 2013-07-06 (NCEI Accession 0123400)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: January 29, 2026 | Last Modified: 2021-10-07T00:00:00.000+00:00
Flow cytometry provides a rapid and reproducible method for analyzing crustacean hemocytes and their functions under experimentally-varied environmental conditions. We used flow cytometry to determine if there was a difference in hematology and selected immune functions, and intracellular pH (pHi), under two different, future ocean acidification scenarios (pH = 7.51, 7.80) compared to current conditions (pH = 8.06) for Chionoecetes bairdi, the Tanner crab. Hemocytes were analyzed after adult Tanner crabs were held for two years under continuous exposure to acidified ocean water. Total counts of hemocytes did not vary among experimental control and treatments; however, there was a significantly greater number of dead, circulating hemocytes in crabs held at the lowest pH treatment. Phagocytosis of fluorescent microbeads by hemocytes was greatest at the lowest pH treatment. These results suggest that hemocytes were dying, likely by apoptosis, at a rate faster than upregulated phagocytosis was able to remove moribund cells from circulation at the lowest pH. There was no significant difference in pHi within hyalinocytes among pH levels, with apparent regulation to a mean pHi of 7.24, significantly lower than the external environment. In contrast, there was a significant difference between treatments in pHi of the semi-granular+granular cells. These findings suggest that future, predicted levels of ocean acidification may affect the defense cells of Tanner crabs, possibly making them more susceptible to other stressors in the environment.

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0123400 biological data CELL COUNTS CRUSTACEANS MICROBIOLOGY pH SHELLFISH Flow Cytometer biological laboratory analyses NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center US DOC/NOAA/NMFS/Northeast Fisheries Science Center/Milford Laboratory NODC Ocean Acidification Scientific Data Stewardship (OADS) Ocean Carbon and Acidification Data System (OCADS) US DOC; NOAA; Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) Gulf of Alaska North Pacific Ocean oceanography DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NODC > National Oceanographic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce DOC/NOAA/NMFS/AFSC > Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce DOC/NOAA/NMFS/NEFSC > Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) Ocean Carbon and Acidification Data System (OCADS) Project EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES > ARTHROPODS > CRUSTACEANS EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES > MOLLUSKS EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CHEMISTRY > PH Laboratory experiment external hemolymph pH hemocytes internal cell pH intracellular pH % Dead Cell SGC+GC % Dead HC % Phagocytosis Average pH Calculated HC pHi Calculated SGC+GC pHi Dead Cell HC Dead Cell SGC+GC Hemolymph pHe Raw data SNARF-5F HC FL2-H to calculate internal cell pH Raw data SNARF-5F SGC+GC FL2-H to calculate internal cell pH Raw data SNARF-5F SNARF-5F HC FL3-H used to calculate internal pH Raw data SNARF-5F SNARF-5F SGC+GC FL3-H used to calculate internal pH Total Cell HC Total Cell SGC+GC FLOW CYTOMETRY OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN > GULF OF ALASKA Gulf of Alaska North Pacific Ocean

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