Warm water creatures adapt to live

WARM-WATER sea creatures may one day rule the oceans as their cold-water competitors fail to adapt to climate change.

This scenario is suggested by a new study which concludes that a species of Antarctic limpets, a type of small mollusk, can’t grow as fast as their limpet cousins in warmer climates. Being introduced to warmer water only stunts their growth even more.”Sea temperature is predicted to increase by around 2 degrees Celsius in the next 100 years,” said study leader Keiron Fraser of the British Antarctic Survey.”If cold-blooded Antarctic animals can’t grow efficiently or increase their growth rates, they are unlikely to be able to cope in warmer water or compete with species that will inevitably move into the region as temperatures rise.”Scientists once assumed polar species grew slower than temperate and tropical species because food was scarce in the winter.But the study shows that proteins – the building blocks of growth – are the problem.Cold-blooded animals, such as the Antarctic limpets, that live in colder waters can’t produce proteins as efficiently as those that live in warmer waters.While tropical water limpets can keep about 70 per cent of the proteins they make, Antarctic species retain only about 20 per cent.While warmer waters would seem to be good news for the Antarctic limpets by allowing them to produce more proteins, it turns out that their protein production peaks at a specific temperature – the Antarctic summer maximum.At anything above that temperature the limpets actually produce less protein.Because limpets sit near the base of the Antarctic food chain, their disappearance could threaten species that dine on them, such as seabirds, fish and starfish.LiveScienceBeing introduced to warmer water only stunts their growth even more.”Sea temperature is predicted to increase by around 2 degrees Celsius in the next 100 years,” said study leader Keiron Fraser of the British Antarctic Survey.”If cold-blooded Antarctic animals can’t grow efficiently or increase their growth rates, they are unlikely to be able to cope in warmer water or compete with species that will inevitably move into the region as temperatures rise.”Scientists once assumed polar species grew slower than temperate and tropical species because food was scarce in the winter.But the study shows that proteins – the building blocks of growth – are the problem.Cold-blooded animals, such as the Antarctic limpets, that live in colder waters can’t produce proteins as efficiently as those that live in warmer waters.While tropical water limpets can keep about 70 per cent of the proteins they make, Antarctic species retain only about 20 per cent.While warmer waters would seem to be good news for the Antarctic limpets by allowing them to produce more proteins, it turns out that their protein production peaks at a specific temperature – the Antarctic summer maximum.At anything above that temperature the limpets actually produce less protein.Because limpets sit near the base of the Antarctic food chain, their disappearance could threaten species that dine on them, such as seabirds, fish and starfish.LiveScience