Seawater carbonate chemistry and within- and transgenerational stress legacy effects of ocean acidification on red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) growth and survival

We assessed longer-term ocean acidification (OA) effects in red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) using a multi-generational split-brood experiment. We spawned adults raised in ambient conditions to create offspring that we then exposed to high pCO2 (1,180 μatm; simulating OA) or low pCO2 (450 μatm; control or ambient conditions) during the first three months of life. We then allowed these animals to reach maturity in ambient common garden conditions for four years before returning the adults into high or low pCO2 treatments for 11 months and measuring growth and reproductive potential.