Data from: Nacre microstructure records spatiotemporal variation in temperature in the modern ocean

Changing climatic conditions can have complex effects on the
biomineralized segments of marine organisms, which in turn may influence
individual fitness and survival. In nacreous shells, tablet thickness is
one microstructural component that has been observed to positively
correlate with ocean temperature, though the strength of this relationship
is unclear, leaving unresolved whether temperature is a consistent
predictor of tablet thickness and, if so, over what scales. Here we
investigate the relationship between tablet thickness and temperature in
two nacre-producing marine mollusks in the modern ocean. We explore the
relationship between nacre tablet thickness and ocean temperature through
a global analysis of present-day abalone (Haliotis) nacre, and a temporal
analysis of nut clam (Nucula proxima) nacre using shells from individuals
that lived before and after 1950 in two regions of the Gulf of Mexico. We
document a positive relationship between tablet thickness and ocean
temperature within and among closely-related species. For a given
temperature, considerable variation was observed in nacre tablet
thickness, indicating that other factors also contribute. While increased
temperature is likely to cause larger biomineralized units within the
calcified segments of marine organisms, other environmental factors might
counter those changes, highlighting the need for work exploring the
multimodal impact of anthropogenic climate change on biominerals.