Use of Microplate Respirometry to Measure Respiration of Individual Adult Coral Polyps Exposed to Deepwater Horizon Oil

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) blowout of 2010 exposed many coastal and marine ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) to the acute and chronic effects of crude oil. To date no studies have investigated the toxicity of DWH oil on shallow reef-building corals despite the relative proximity of some reef sites to the DWH (Flower Garden Banks, TX) and the potential for downstream oil transport to other more distant sites (Pulley Ridge and Florida Keys, FL). A novel 24-well optical fluorescence oxygen-sensing system (microplate respirometer) was used to measure respiration rates of individual polyps of the common Caribbean coral, Siderastrea siderea, in response to a 48 h exposure of a 4% dilution of surface oil from the DWH blowout at 25oC and 30oC, and used an Imaging Pulse Amplitude Modulated Fluorometer (I-PAM) to measure photochemical efficiency of algal symbionts (Symbiodinium spp.). This dataset reports oxygen concentrations that can be used to calculate the adult polyp oxygen consumption rates over the span of a two week period. Experimental polyps were first acclimated to the experimental chambers for 7 days until the baseline respiration rates stabilized. Temperatures in the heated treatment were then raised to 30oC over a 3-day period and all of the corals (including controls at 25oC) were exposed to oil on day 11. After 48 h of oil exposure corals were returned to clean seawater and maintained at 25oC or 30oC for 48h of respiration measurements during recovery and an additional two weeks of visual monitoring. Data for both the daily oxygen consumption rates as well as the IPAM data taken are provided.