Respiration by the Opportunistic Spionid Polychaete Streblospio gynobranchiata during Adjustment to and Recovery from Moderate Hypoxia

Abstract

Understanding the capacity of estuarine organisms to acclimate to stressful conditions provides insights into how communities cope within fluctuating environments. The opportunistic spionid polychaete, Streblospio gynobranchiata Rice and Levin, 1998, regularly experiences intermittent moderate hypoxia within shallow sedimentary habitats. To better understand fine-scale adjustments by this opportunistic species to short-term moderate hypoxia, the aerobic respiration response of three size classes was examined over a 12 h period and after 24 h of exposure to moderate hypoxia (i.e., 20% air saturation) at 25 °C. In addition, the capacity to resume standard respiration was examined over a 12 h period following a 24 h period of exposure to moderate hypoxia. Mass-specific respiration varied with body size during both exposure and recovery from hypoxia. Small worms switched from an oxyregulating to an oxyconforming strategy within 6 h of exposure to moderate hypoxia at 25 °C. After 24 h of hypoxia exposure, small worms hypo-regulated at 81% of the preceding 24 h normoxic reference level. By contrast, medium and large worms hyper-regulated during the first 12 h exposure period, but hypo-regulated at 70% and 79% of the preceding 24 h normoxic reference levels after 24 h of hypoxia exposure. Fluctuations in respiration levels during the recovery period revealed a temporal recovery pattern implying cycling energetic processes. The recovery pattern also indicated some respiration overshoot to compensate for oxygen debt. The timing of the cycling recovery pattern also differed with body size. The ability of S. gynobranchiata to dynamically adjust its metabolic response to low oxygen stress underscores the ecologically important role of tolerant organisms within estuarine benthic habitats subject to recurrent diel or intermittent hypoxia.