Trace element accumulation in the shell of the Arctic cirriped Balanus balanus

Abstract

Barnacles are widespread and abundant inhabitants of rock surfaces in the intertidal zone, providing considerable contributions to the formation of carbonate sediments. The main goal of this study was to test two hypotheses: (1) the chemical composition of the Balanus balanus shell is mostly controlled biologically, and environmental factors have only minor influences, and (2) the chemical composition of B. balanus shells does not vary with size. To test these hypotheses, samples were collected in two fjords from two depths. This study revealed site-related differences in shell chemistry, although no variability in shell chemical compositions was detected between the depths and among the size categories. Barnacle shell plates had different accumulation patterns for different trace elements (Mg, S, Sr), with the operculum as the most distinctive shell plate. As those plates are precipitated under the same environmental conditions, the different accumulation patterns may indicate biological control of element uptake in cirripedes. We suggest that the specific chemical composition of the operculum may be related to the required mechanical properties of this shell part, and thus, it is likely that this organism regulates accumulation patterns within its shell, because such regulation increases its adaptive properties. Our results supported both presented hypotheses.

Arctic Sensitivity? Suitable Habitat for Benthic Taxa Is Surprisingly Robust to Climate Change

“…We used aragonite saturation state to represent the degree of potential species response to ocean acidification, but we acknowledge that this may not be the only relevant carbonate system driver. Whereas most of the calcifying taxa we studied produce aragonitic skeletons (Mollusca: Kukliński, unpublished data), there is also a large number of organisms included in our study which use calcite with varying degrees of Mg incorporation (Echinodermata, Bryozoa, Cirripedia: Kuklinski and Taylor, 2009;Iglikowska et al, 2017Iglikowska et al, , 2018. In addition, some species may be more sensitive to pH or pCO 2 or combinations of OA stress.…”

Skeletal mineralogy of marine calcifying organisms shaped by seawater temperature and evolutionary history—A case study of cheilostome bryozoans

“…aragonite, biomineralization, calcifiers, calcite, marine invertebrates, phylogeny, skeleton scleractinian corals can also be found in deep waters and at low temperatures, where they still make aragonitic skeletons (Bostock et al, 2015;Farfan et al, 2018). Similarly, coccolithophores, echinoderms, cyclostome bryozoans and barnacles produce wholly calcitic skeletons, even at the relatively high temperatures of the tropics (Batson et al, 2020;Iglikowska, Borszcz, et al, 2018;Iglikowska, Ronowicz, et al, 2018;Piwoni-Piórewicz et al, 2022;Ra et al, 2010;Ullmann et al, 2018). These patterns suggest that evolutionary history constrains biomineralogy (Gilbert et al, 2022).…”

Polymorphism of CaCO3 and the variability of elemental composition of the calcareous skeletons secreted by invertebrates along the salinity gradient of the Baltic Sea

“…Seawater contains a diverse suite of chemical elements, for example, Sr, Mg, Ba, Mn, Cu, and Pb that during biomineralization are incorporated into skeleton both as Ca substituents in the crystal lattice, as well as components of skeletal organic matrix (Iglikowska et al, 2018; Markulin et al, 2019; Schöne et al, 2010; Zhao et al, 2017b). Among them, Mg and Sr most easily substitute for Ca.…”