Abstract

Ocean acidification is the end-result of absorption of atmospheric CO2. The main consequence is the shift in the carbon equilibrium and the subsequent reduction of the availability of carbonates required for calcifying animals. The prediction of peak CO2 levels of circa 1850 ppm for the year 2300 is far below the lethal level for marine fish. Consequently, and in contrast to the rest of calcifying marine fauna, fish seem to constitute an exception, and likely will not suffer the lethal effects of ocean acidification, even at early stages. On the contrary, it has been recently demonstrated that fish contribute to the carbon cycle in a sizeable proportion by production of intestinal mineralized carbonated aggregates (of Ca/Mg) generated as by-products of their osmoregulation. Taking this process as the starting point I will discuss some of our recent work on the effects of ocean acidification on the physiology of marine fish.

Short CV

Born and raised a fisherman in Galicia I did a PhD in Fish Physiology (Santiago de Compostela, 1994) and became a comparative physiologist with special interest in adaption physiology and osmoregulation in marine and euryhaline fish. My research program uses an integrative multilevel approach through whole animal in vivo and in vitro studies, epithelial electrophysiology, cellular and molecular techniques.