Hypoxia threatens coral and sea anemone early life stages

Abstract

Seawater hypoxia is increasing globally and can drive declines in organismal performance across a wide range of marine taxa. However, the effects of hypoxia on early life stages (e.g., larvae and juveniles) are largely unknown, and it is unclear how evolutionary and life histories may influence these outcomes. Here, we addressed this question by comparing hypoxia responses across early life stages of three cnidarian species representing a range of life histories: the reef‐building coral Galaxea fascicularis, a broadcast spawner with horizontal transmission of endosymbiotic algae (family Symbiodiniaceae); the reef‐building coral Porites astreoides, a brooder with vertical endosymbiont transmission; and the estuarine sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, a non‐symbiotic broadcast spawner. Transient exposure of larvae to hypoxia (dissolved oxygen < 2 mg L−1 for 6 h) led to decreased larval swimming and growth for all three species, which resulted in impaired settlement for the corals. Coral‐specific responses also included larval swelling, depressed respiration rates, and decreases in symbiont densities and function. These results indicate both immediate and latent negative effects of hypoxia on cnidarian physiology and coral–algal mutualisms specifically. In addition, G. fascicularis and P. astreoides were sensitized to heat stress following hypoxia exposure, suggesting that the combinatorial nature of climate stressors will lead to declining performance for corals. However, sensitization to heat stress was not observed in N. vectensis exposed to hypoxia, suggesting that this species may be more resilient to combined stressors. Overall, these results emphasize the importance of reducing anthropogenic carbon emissions to limit further ocean deoxygenation and warming.