The survival of the ocean’s royalty, the red king crab, may depend on what happens in laboratories today.
In a landmark NOAA-led study, scientists used UIC Inc. carbon analyzer coulometer systems to measure dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity in seawater, uncovering how acidifying oceans and rising temperatures threaten the earliest life stages of Paralithodes camtschaticus. The results were sobering: 97% of young crabs perished under future climate conditions predicted for this century.
FAQ Call-Out:
How are samples measured?
Samples are measured using coulometry with different front-end units: a Coulometer and furnace for Total Carbon (TC) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC), and a Coulometer with an acidification unit for Total Inorganic Carbon (TIC). The coulometer electrochemically titrates absorbed carbon until a fixed spectrophotometric endpoint is reached, a process that delivers unparalleled accuracy and stability without requiring calibration.
To simulate ocean acidification, researchers bubbled CO₂ into seawater to achieve a pH of 7.8, a value expected by 2100, and maintained precise control using Honeywell controllers and Durafet III pH probes. Weekly water samples were analyzed for dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA) using UIC Inc. Coulometers with acidification Modules. These measurements ensured chemical conditions remained stable across six experimental treatments that combined two pH levels and three temperatures.
The big reveal? Mortality skyrocketed when low pH and high temperature coincided, creating a synergistic stress that slashed survival to just 3%. Growth slowed, intermoult duration lengthened, and morphology remained unchanged, a biological stalemate in a hostile environment.
The implications reach far beyond Alaska. As oceans warm and acidify, even minor chemical shifts, detectable only through precision tools like UIC Inc. coulometric analyzers, can cascade through ecosystems. These findings underscore an urgent truth: the stability of marine life begins with the stability of carbon chemistry itself.
The red king crab’s fate is a signal. Our ability to measure and understand oceanic carbon with UIC Inc. systems may determine not only how we monitor climate change, but whether species like this one survive it.
Visit UIC Inc. to see how coulometry defines the future of carbon measurement.
Reference: Swiney, K. M., Long, W. C., & Foy, R. J. (2017). Decreased pH and increased temperatures affect young-of-the-year red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus). ICES Journal of Marine Science, 74(4), 1191–1200. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsw251
