Low Oxygen Levels Slow Embryonic Development of Limulus polyphemus

Differential Gene Expression Induced by Acute Exposure to Water Accommodated Fraction (WAF) and Chemically Enhanced WAF (CEWAF) of Light Crude Oil and Nokomis 3-F4 in Limulus polyphemus Larvae

In 2018 we evaluated at 48 h and 96 h, the gene expression profile of larvae of Limulus polyphemus exposed to 10% and 100% of water-accommodated fraction (WAF) of light crude oil (API 35), and 10% and 100% of a chemically enhanced WAF (CEWAF) with the dispersant Nokomis 3-F4® in a static-acute (96 h) bioassay. Alkanes and PAHs concentrations were higher in CEWAF than in WAF stock solutions. Under the proved conditions, the expression profile of genes associated to detoxification processes (glutathione S-transferase and glutathione peroxidase), stress (heat shock protein), innate immunity (tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 4 traf4), cell death (apoptosis inhibitor 5) and DNA repairing (E3 ubiquitin protein ligase), showed a deregulation at 48 h followed by an upregulation at 96 h, with exception of glutathione peroxidase, heat shock protein and innate immunity that remained low in CEWAF. In conclusion, by using genes that have been proposed as biomarkers to pollutants exposure, L. polyphemus larvae showed an early activation of genes related to the immune system, antioxidant, heat shock and NER.

Assessing the Viability of American Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus) Embryos in Salt Marsh and Sandy Beach Habitats

AbstractFor animal embryos that develop externally, the physio-chemical environment can substantially affect offspring viability. In the case of the American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), sediment conditions along estuarine shorelines influence development rates and embryonic viability. Sandy beach habitats are considered to have optimal conditions for horseshoe crab embryonic development; however, spawning is often observed outside of these optimal habitats, in areas such as salt marshes, where reduced oxygen availability is thought to decrease the viability of eggs laid in these sediments. We excavated horseshoe crab eggs, embryos, and trilobites laid naturally in marsh and beach sediments in South Carolina to compare their development and viability between habitats. We found all developmental stages in both marsh and beach habitats. For two of three sampling areas, trilobites were more likely to be found at beaches than at marshes. Multivariate analyses demonstrate that the prevalence of early and middle developmental stages was similar between habitats but that beaches had a greater proportion of late-stage trilobites than marshes. The lower likelihood of finding trilobites at some marshes may reflect differences in spawning phenology between habitats or reduced rates of embryonic development in marshes compared to beaches, leading to potentially different developmental timelines rather than a true reduction in viability. Nevertheless, the substantial proportions of eggs laid in salt marshes that survive to the trilobite stage indicate that spawning in this habitat could represent a previously underappreciated source of recruitment for horseshoe crab populations that may need to be incorporated into population assessments.

Protaspis larva of an aglaspidid-like arthropod from the Ordovician of Siberia and its habitat

A fossil larva lacking segmentation of the calcified carapace, closely resembling the trilobite protaspis, has been found associated with other skeletal elements of an angarocaridid Girardevia species in the mid Darriwilian of central Siberia. The presence of protaspis larvae in the angarocaridids, generally believed to represent a branch of the Aglaspidida, supports their proximity to trilobites and proves a low position on the arthropod phylogenetic tree but does not necessarily contradict the chelicerate affinity. The cephalic appendages of angarocaridids bore massive gnathobases with detachable spines, closely similar to those known in extant xiphosurans and in their probable Cambrian relatives. The stratigraphic succession of the angarocaridids, their phosphatized cuticle pieces being abundant in the Ordovician strata of Siberia, shows a gradual improvement of mechanical resistance of their carapaces, eventually resulting in a honeycomb structure. The associated benthic mollusc assemblage is dominated with the bellerophontids showing high mortality at metamorphosis and only the limpet-like Pterotheca, infaunal bivalves, and scaphopods being able to survive this in a substantial number. This suggests a strong selective pressure from predators equipped with well-skeletonised oral apparatuses able to crush mineralized body covers of their prey. Possibly, these were some of the associated conodonts of appropriate size and co-evolving towards their ability to crush more and more resistant cuticle. Less likely candidates for durophagy are endoceratid or orthoceratid cephalopods. Also the angarocaridids themselves, equipped with robust gnathobases of cephalic appendages, apparently predated on benthic shelly animals.

Both maternal and embryonic exposure to mild hypoxia influence embryonic development of the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea

There is growing evidence that maternal exposure to environmental stressors can alter offspring phenotype and increase fitness. Here, we investigate the relative and combined effects of maternal and developmental exposure to mild hypoxia (65 and 74% air saturation, respectively) on the growth and development of embryos of the marine gastropod Littorina littorea Differences in embryo morphological traits were driven by the developmental environment, whereas the maternal environment and interactive effects of maternal and developmental environment were the main driver of differences in the timing of developmental events. While developmental exposure to mild hypoxia significantly increased the area of an important respiratory organ, the velum, it significantly delayed hatching of veliger larvae and reduced their size at hatching and overall survival. Maternal exposure had a significant effect on these traits, and interacted with developmental exposure to influence the time of appearance of morphological characters, suggesting that both are important in affecting developmental trajectories. A comparison between embryos that successfully hatched and those that died in mild hypoxia revealed that survivors exhibited hypertrophy in the velum and associated pre-oral cilia, suggesting that these traits are linked with survival in low-oxygen environments. We conclude that both maternal and developmental environments shape offspring phenotype in a species with a complex developmental life history, and that plasticity in embryo morphology arising from exposure to even small reductions in oxygen tensions affects the hatching success of these embryos.

Limulus and heart rhythm

Great interest in the comparative physiology of hearts and their functions in Animalia has emerged with classic papers on Limulus polyphemus and mollusks. The recurrent cardiac activity-heart rate-is the most important physiological parameter and when present the kardia (Greek) is vital to the development of entire organs of the organisms in the animal kingdom. Extensive studies devoted to the regulation of cardiac rhythm in invertebrates have revealed that the basics of heart physiology are comparable to mammals. The hearts of invertebrates also beat spontaneously and are supplied with regulatory nerves: either excitatory or inhibitory or both. The distinct nerves and the source of excitation/inhibition at the level of single neurons are described for many invertebrate genera. The vertebrates and a majority of invertebrates have myogenic hearts, whereas the horseshoe crab L. polyphemus and a few other animals have a neurogenic cardiac rhythm. Nevertheless, the myogenic nature of heartbeat is precursor, because the contraction of native and stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes does occur in the absence of any neural elements. Even in L. polyphemus, the heart rhythm is myogenic at embryonic stages.