To understand species response and vulnerability to ocean warming, the underlying biological mechanisms can be examined through the emerging field of ecological proteomics. Proteomics is a powerful tool in identifying and quantifying important proteins. While octopuses are renowned for their intelligence and adaptability, it is still unclear whether they will thrive in future oceans under the current climate crisis. The hypothesis tested in this study is that exposure of Octopus berrima embryos to projected thermal conditions will be reflected in proteome changes that provide insight into mechanisms of temperature adaptation during ocean warming. Results from this study represent the first proteomic analysis of octopuses under ocean warming, thereby informing us of potential biomarkers and performance of octopuses under thermal stress.

Female Octopus berrima were collected in the field and exposed to different thermal conditions during development of their offspring until hatching. These thermal conditions represented current and future projected ocean temperature scenarios (control: 19°C; current summer average: 23°C; future summer average: 27°C).

Replicate embryos were collected for each condition and each embryo treated as an independent sample. Embryos were snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen after euthanasia and homogenized using liquid nitrogen crushing. Samples were homogenized, proteins extracted, and in solution digestion performed with immobilized trypsin and purified using C18 resin.