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Osmotic balance and respiration in the hermit crab, Pagurus bernhardus, exposed to fluctuating salinities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Sandra E. Shumway
Sandra E. Shumway
Affiliation:
N.E.R.C. Unit of Marine Invertebrate Zoology, Marine Science Laboratories, Menai Bridge, Gwynedd
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Extract

Specimens of Pagurus bernhardus (with and without shells) were exposed to both gradual (sinusoidal) and abrupt (square-wave) salinity fluctuations and changes in haemolymph osmolality, tissue water content and oxygen consumption monitored. Oxygen consumption was also monitored under steady-state conditions; under these conditions there was no significant difference between the rate of oxygen consumption by animals with shells and animals without shells. Oxygen consumption was found to vary with body weight according to the equation O2 consumption = 0·292 W0·668. During exposure to fluctuating salinities the crabs with shells were seen to increase loco-motory activity when the external medium declined to approximately 75% sea water. Haemolymph osmolality values followed the same pattern of change as the external medium; the haemolymph of crabs without shells became significantly more dilute during exposure to low salinity than did that of crabs with shells. P. bernhardus showed significant increases and decreases in hydration level as salinities fell and rose respectively. Crabs with shells showed a marked temporary increase in oxygen consumption when the external medium declined to approximately 75% sea water; crabs without shells showed no such response. The importance of the shell as a means of protection against dilute media is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 58 , Issue 4 , November 1978 , pp. 869 - 876
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1978

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References

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