Increasing ocean acidification is a concern due to its potential effects on the growth, development, and survival of early life stages of tuna in oceanic habitats and on the spatial extent of their suitable nursery habitat. To investigate the potential effects of increasing CO₂ on otolith calcification of 9-day old pre-flexion stage yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), an experiment was conducted at the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission's Achotines Laboratory in Panama during 2011. Fertilized eggs and larvae were exposed to mean pCO₂ levels that ranged from present day (355 μatm) to two levels predicted to occur in some areas of the Pacific in the near future (2013 and 3321 μatm), and to an extreme value equivalent to long-term projections for 300 years in the future (9624 μatm). The results indicated significantly larger otoliths (in area and perimeter) with significant, and increasing, fluctuating asymmetry at acidification levels similar to those projected for the near future and long-term. Otoliths increased significantly in size despite a significant decrease in somatic length with increasing pCO₂. A consistent correlation between otolith and somatic growth of yellowfin tuna larvae among treatments was evident (i.e., larger otoliths were still associated with larger larvae within a treatment). The observed changes in otolith morphology with increasing ocean acidification have the potential to indirectly affect larval survival through dysfunction of the mechanosensory organs, but this remains to be verified in yellowfin tuna larvae.

海洋酸化的加剧是一个令人担忧的问题，因为它对海洋生境中金枪鱼的生长、发育和早期生命阶段的生存及其适宜的育苗生境的空间范围产生潜在影响。_{为了研究增加CO 2}对9日龄前屈曲期黄鳍金枪鱼（ Thunnus albacares ）耳石钙化的潜在影响，2011年在巴拿马美洲热带金枪鱼委员会的Achotines实验室进行了一项实验。幼虫暴露于平均p CO ₂范围从现在（355μatm）到预计在不久的将来太平洋某些地区将出现的两个水平（2013年和3321μatm），以及相当于未来300年长期预测的极值（9624μatm）。结果表明，耳石（面积和周长）显着增大，在酸化水平上具有显着且不断增加的波动不对称性，与近期和长期的预测类似。尽管体细胞长度随着p CO _{2的增加而显着减少，但耳石的尺寸却显着增加}。耳石之间一致的相关性并且处理之间黄鳍金枪鱼幼虫的体细胞生长是明显的（即，较大的耳石仍然与处理内较大的幼虫相关）。随着海洋酸化程度的增加，观察到的耳石形态的变化有可能通过机械感觉器官的功能障碍间接影响幼鱼的生存，但这仍有待在黄鳍金枪鱼幼鱼中得到验证。