Differential thermal tolerance and energetic trajectories during ontogeny in porcelain crabs, genus Petrolisthes

Thermal tolerance limits of marine intertidal zone organisms are elevated compared to subtidal species, but are typically just slightly higher than maximal habitat temperatures. The small thermal safety margins maintained by intertidal zone organisms suggest that high thermal tolerance is associated with a physiological cost. If true, we hypothesize that species that transition between intertidal zone and planktonic habitats during ontogeny, will adjust their thermal tolerance accordingly to capitalize upon potential energy savings while in a thermally benign habitat. We tested this hypothesis in porcelain crabs that transition between the thermally stressful, intertidal zone as embryos, to the thermally benign pelagic zone as larvae, and back at settlement. We found the more thermally tolerant, mid-intertidal zone species, Petrolisthes cinctipes, and the less thermally tolerant, subtidal zone species, Petrolisthes manimacilis, exhibited reduced thermal tolerance (LT50) in the transition from embryos to larvae. This was associated with an increased oxygen consumption rate in both species, though P. cinctipes exhibited a significantly greater increase in oxygen consumption. P. cinctipes also showed an increase in thermal tolerance in settled juveniles compared to pelagic zoea I larvae, resulting in an overall V-shaped thermal tolerance relationship during ontogeny, while in P. manimaculis thermal tolerance was significantly lower in juveniles compared to zoea I. In neither species were these changes (zoea I to juvenile) associated with a significant change in metabolism. While embryos and juveniles of P. cinctipes have thermal tolerance limits near intertidal habitat thermal maxima (∼32.5 °C), all three life-history stages in P. manimaculis (especially embryos and larvae) exhibit considerable thermal safety margins. The mechanisms underlying this “excess” thermal tolerance in P. manimacilis embryos are unknown, but suggest that patterns of thermal tolerance in early life history stages are species-specific.

► We measured ontogenetic changes in thermal tolerance (LT50) and metabolic rate. ► Ontogenetic shifts in LT50 correlated with thermal habitat in mid-intertidal species. ► In the low-intertidal species, LT50 declined through ontogeny, regardless of habitat. ► Thermal safety margins were smallest in embryonic stages of more tolerant species. ► Enhanced LT50 was not associated with increased metabolic costs.