Seawater carbonate chemistry and shell growth and coloration of important Northwest Atlantic bivalve species

To investigate the response of four commercially relevant bivalve species to OA and differing temperatures, juvenile Mercenaria mercenaria (hard shell clams), juvenile Mya arenaria (soft shell clams), adult and juvenile Arctica islandica (ocean quahog), and juvenile Placopecten magellanicus (Atlantic sea scallops) were grown in varying pH and temperature conditions. Species were exposed to four controlled pH conditions (7.4, 7.6, 7.8, and ambient/8.0) and three controlled temperature conditions (6, 9, and 12˚C) for 20.5 weeks and then shell growth and coloration were analyzed. This research marks the first direct comparison of these species' biological responses to both temperature and OA conditions within the same experiment.