Seawater carbonate chemistry and Gadus morhua length, weight and sperm biological processes, 2010

Ocean acidification, as a consequence of increasing marine pCO2, may have severe effects on the physiology of marine organisms. However, experimental studies remain scarce, in particular concerning fish. While adults will most likely remain relatively unaffected by changes in seawater pH, early life-history stages are potentially more sensitive - particularly the critical stage of fertilization, in which sperm motility plays a central role. In this study, the effects of ocean acidification (decrease of pHT to 7.55) on sperm motility of Baltic cod, Gadus morhua, were assessed. We found no significant effect of decreased pH on sperm speed, rate of change of direction or percent motility for the population of cod analyzed. We predict that future ocean acidification will probably not pose a problem for sperm behavior, and hence fertilization success, of Baltic cod.

海洋酸化，作为海洋二氧化碳浓度增加的后果，可能对海洋生物的生理机能产生严重影响。然而，关于鱼类的研究实验性研究仍然匮乏。尽管成年鱼类可能对海水pH值的变化影响相对较小，但其早期生命历史阶段可能更为敏感——特别是在受精这一关键阶段，其中精子活力起着至关重要的作用。在本研究中，我们评估了海洋酸化（pH值降至7.55）对波罗的海鲭鱼（Gadus morhua）精子活力的影响。我们发现，对于所分析的鲭鱼种群而言，pH值降低并未对精子速度、方向变化率或运动百分比产生显著影响。我们预测，未来的海洋酸化可能不会对波罗的海鲭鱼的精子行为及其受精成功率构成问题。