A friend of mine directed me to an article I found very interesting and thought you guys would as well. The article talks of CO2 and the effects on Lobsters, but one can speculate the effects on other crustaceans. The major significance to the environment would be the extinction of lobster prey species, eventually wild lobsters, but for now it raises many questions to me about the hobby and keeping crustaceans. Here is the article, the link is at the below the excerpt:
New research shows that if carbon emissions soar, we could end up with super-sized lobsters. But you'll have to strap that bib on fast; the jumbo lobsters probably wouldn't last for long.
A new study published in the journal Geology shows that if carbon dioxide emissions reach extreme levels, the changes in the world's oceans might result in lobsters 50 percent bigger than normal.
Lobsters can take carbon from the water and use it to build their exoskeletons, says marine geologist Justin Ries, who oversaw the study. The theory, he tells NPR's Guy Raz, is that lobsters are able to convert the extra carbon into material for building up their shells.
Ries is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. To conduct the study, his team built several tanks to hold marine life, and simulated high-CO2 environments at the rates predicted for 100 years from now, 200 years from now and beyond.
Lobsters, crabs and shrimp did well in the environment, according to Ries, but other things didn't corals and other "calcifiers" like clams, scallops and oysters, for example. Unlike the lobsters, these species' shells grew thinner in the increased CO2 environments. "Actually, six of these species began to dissolve under the highest CO2 level," Ries says.
And that's why those giant lobsters might want to stay trim. Clams and other species are part of the lobster's diet. If thinner shells make them easier prey, the lobsters' food source won't last long not good news for the predators. "Even though lobsters are building stronger shells, their populations would probably be sure to follow," Ries says.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121378547
Regardless of your standing on global warming and greenhouse gases the applications of this could be very interesting. CO2 injection kits are used in the hobby today for planted aquariums, but could they be used for more impressive crays/lobsters? What different kinds of crustacean would benefit from this? Marine and FW tanks alike could have larger, possibly more impressive crustacean tanks by injecting it with CO2. Have any of you heard of this before? Tried it?
New research shows that if carbon emissions soar, we could end up with super-sized lobsters. But you'll have to strap that bib on fast; the jumbo lobsters probably wouldn't last for long.
A new study published in the journal Geology shows that if carbon dioxide emissions reach extreme levels, the changes in the world's oceans might result in lobsters 50 percent bigger than normal.
Lobsters can take carbon from the water and use it to build their exoskeletons, says marine geologist Justin Ries, who oversaw the study. The theory, he tells NPR's Guy Raz, is that lobsters are able to convert the extra carbon into material for building up their shells.
Ries is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. To conduct the study, his team built several tanks to hold marine life, and simulated high-CO2 environments at the rates predicted for 100 years from now, 200 years from now and beyond.
Lobsters, crabs and shrimp did well in the environment, according to Ries, but other things didn't corals and other "calcifiers" like clams, scallops and oysters, for example. Unlike the lobsters, these species' shells grew thinner in the increased CO2 environments. "Actually, six of these species began to dissolve under the highest CO2 level," Ries says.
And that's why those giant lobsters might want to stay trim. Clams and other species are part of the lobster's diet. If thinner shells make them easier prey, the lobsters' food source won't last long not good news for the predators. "Even though lobsters are building stronger shells, their populations would probably be sure to follow," Ries says.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121378547
Regardless of your standing on global warming and greenhouse gases the applications of this could be very interesting. CO2 injection kits are used in the hobby today for planted aquariums, but could they be used for more impressive crays/lobsters? What different kinds of crustacean would benefit from this? Marine and FW tanks alike could have larger, possibly more impressive crustacean tanks by injecting it with CO2. Have any of you heard of this before? Tried it?
