The hydrogen peroxide impact on larval settlement and metamorphosis of abalone Haliotis diversicolor supertexta

Abalone Haliotis diversicolor supertexta is an important economic mollusk.The settlement and metamorphosis are two critical stages during its development period,which has direct influence on abalone survival and production.The influence of reactive oxygen species(hydrogen peroxide) on abalone embryo and juvenile development were examined in this study.Larvae of Haliotis diversicolor supertexta were induced to settlement and metamorphose by exposure to seawater supplemented with hydrogen peroxide.They had the best performance at 800 μmol/L.The concentration of 1 000 μmol/L or higher was toxic to the larvae,as the larvae could settle down only at benthic diatom plates without complete metamorphosis.In addition,H2O2 adding time was critical to the larval performance.24h after two-day post-fertilization was proved to be the optimal adding time.In this paper,two action mechanisms of hydrogen peroxide are discussed:(1) hydrogen peroxide has direct toxicity to ciliated cells,thus cause apoptosis;(2) hydrogen peroxide,as a product from catecholamines' autoxidation process in vivo,can reverse this process to produce neuro-transmitters to induce abalone metamorphosis.