Sodium Regulation in the Amphipod Gammarus Duebeni Lilljeborg form Freshwater Localities in Ireland

1968 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-358
Author(s):  
D. W. SUTCLIFFE ◽  
J. SHAW

1. A quantitative study of sodium influx and loss was made on populations of Gammarus duebeni obtained from four freshwater localities in Ireland. 2. Characteristic features of sodium regulation in animals from the four localities were as follows, (a) The sodium influx increases gradually with increasing external sodium concentrations, but a maximum (saturation) level is abruptly reached at an external concentration of 1-2 mM/l. and the transporting system is half saturated at about 0.5 mM/l. sodium, (b) Over the range of sodium concentrations found in fresh waters a low rate of sodium uptake is sufficient to balance sodium losses at concentrations down to between 0.5 and 0.25 mM/l. At lower concentrations the influx is increased and the loss rate is reduced. (c) Calculations suggest that hypotonic urine containing approximately 40 mM/l sodium is produced at external concentrations ranging from fresh water to 40 % sea water. At external concentrations below 0.25 mM/l. sodium the urine concentration is probably reduced to well below 40 mM/l. sodium. 3. A detailed comparison is made of sodium regulation at external concentrations ranging between 0.07 and 1 mM/l. sodium in G. duebeni from fresh water in Ireland and from fresh water and brackish water in Britain. It is suggested that G. duebeni in Ireland constitutes a distinct physiological race adapted for living in fresh waters with relatively low sodium concentrations.

1974 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 719-736
Author(s):  
D. W. SUTCLIFFE

1. The principal features of the sodium regulatory mechanism are compared in Asellus communis Say, A. aquaticus (L.) and A. meridianus Rac. 2. Water content and total concentrations of sodium and chloride are similar in the three species, but they differ with respect to values for Kmax, Km, the loss rate, and the minimum sodium balance concentration. 3. It is suggested that A. meridianus, A. aquaticus and A. communis represent a natural series of increasing adaptation to fresh water. A. communis from North America is completely adapted to fresh water. It has the lowest loss rate, the lowest maximum saturation level (Kmax) for sodium influx, and the highest affinity (low Km value) for sodium ions in the transporting system at the body surface. In many respects A. meridianus resembles freshwater populations of Mesidotea entomon and Gammarus duebeni, and may therefore have had a relatively short history in fresh water.


1967 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. SUTCLIFFE

1. A quantitative study of sodium influx and loss rates was made on Gammarus duebeni obtained from brackish-water localities. Both influx and loss rates were immediately doubled by a rise in temperature from 10 to 20° C. 2. It is estimated that when animals are fully acclimatized to a series of media decreasing from 50 to 2% sea water the rate of sodium uptake at the body surface is doubled to balance the rate of sodium loss, which is also doubled. The increased loss rate is due equally to an increase in the rate of diffusion across the body surface and to loss in hypotonic urine containing about 160-190 mM/l. sodium. Diffusion losses normally account for at least 35% of the total losses, even when the urine is isotonic with the blood. 3. The sodium-transporting system at the body surface is fully saturated at an external concentration of about 10 mM/l. NaCl (2% sea water). The system has a low affinity for sodium ions and is only half-saturated at 1.5-2.5 mM/l. sodium. The overall rate of uptake is increased to its maximum rate to balance sodium losses when in fresh water. 4. When acclimatized to fresh water (0.25 mM/l. NaCl) the sodium loss rate is greatly reduced. This was partly due to a lower rate of diffusion across the body surface following a fall in the blood sodium concentration, and mainly due to elaboration of a very dilute urine. 5. It is suggested that increases in sodium uptake in the antennary glands, resulting in a hypotonic urine, are linked with increases in uptake at the body surface. Both uptake systems are possibly activated by a single internal regulator responding to changes in the blood concentration. 6. Sodium regulation at concentrations below 10 mM/l. NaCl was examined in G. duebeni obtained from fresh-water streams on the Lizard peninsula, the Kintyre peninsula, and the Isle of Man. The regulation of sodium uptake and loss is very similar to regulation in brackish-water animals, and the sodium-transporting system has the same low affinity for sodium ions at concentrations below about 10 mM/l. 7. It is suggested that fresh-water localities in north-west Europe, excluding Ireland, have been colonized from brackish water without any modifications in the sodium-regulatory mechanism. But the fresh-water animals tolerate very low sodium concentrations better than brackish-water animals. This is apparently due to natural selection of individuals in which the sodium uptake rate is higher than the average uptake rate in brackish-water animals.


1968 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-380
Author(s):  
D. W. SUTCLIFFE

1. Sodium uptake and loss rates are given for three gammarids acclimatized to media ranging from fresh water to undiluted sea water. 2. In Gammarus zaddachi and G. tigrinus the sodium transporting system at the body surface is half-saturated at an external concentration of about 1 mM/l. and fully saturated at about 10 mM/l. sodium. In Marinogammarus finmarchicus the respective concentrations are six to ten times higher. 3. M. finmarchicus is more permeable to water and salts than G. zaddachi and G. tigrinus. Estimated urine flow rates were equivalent to 6.5% body weight/hr./ osmole gradient at 10°C. in M. finmarchicus and 2.8% body weight/hr./osmole gradient in G. zaddachi. The permeability of the body surface to outward diffusion of sodium was four times higher in M. finmarchicus, but sodium losses across the body surface represent at least 50% of the total losses in both M. finmarchicus and G. zaddachi. 4. Calculations suggest that G. zaddachi produces urine slightly hypotonic to the blood when acclimatized to the range 20% down to 2% sea water. In fresh water the urine sodium concentration is reduced to a very low level. 5. The process of adaptation to fresh water in gammarid crustaceans is illustrated with reference to a series of species from marine, brackish and freshwater habitats.


1968 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. CROGHAN ◽  
A. P. M. LOCKWOOD

1. The isopod Mesidotea entomon has colonized the Baltic and certain Swedish lakes since the end of the last Ice Age. 2. The ionic regulation of Baltic animals and fresh-water animals (L. Mälaren) has been compared. 3. It has been possible to adapt Baltic animals to very dilute media, but 5% Askö sea water (5.5 mM/l. Na) appears to be the limit of adaptation. The haemolymph sodium concentration of Baltic animals from the very dilute media was considerably lowered. 4. The haemolymph sodium concentration in Mälaren animals is high (250 mM/l. Na) and comparable with that in Baltic animals in much more concentrated solution. The haemolymph ionic ratios of the Baltic and freshwater animals are similar. The Cl:Na ratio rises slightly in the more concentrated haemolymph samples. 5. From the concentration of ions in the haemolymph and in the total body water, the relative volume of the haemolymph was calculated. Mälaren animals appear to have a much larger haemolymph volume. 6. The permeability of the animals was determined from the rate of loss of sodium into de-ionized water. The permeability of the Mälaren animals is considerably reduced compared to the Baltic animals. Permeability is not related to the medium to which the animals had been adapted. 7. The sodium influx was determined using 22Na. The rate of active uptake was calculated from this. The maximal rate of active uptake was similar in Baltic and Mälaren animals. The sodium concentration of the medium at which active uptake was half maximum (KM) was considerably lower in Malaren animals than in Baltic animals. 8. The evolution of Mesidotea as a fresh-water animal is interpreted as a result of a reduction in permeability of the external surfaces to NaCl and an increase in the affinity of the active transport mechanism enabling the animal to maintain the haemolymph NaCl concentration in a steady state in fresh water.


1967 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-518
Author(s):  
D. W. SUTCLIFFE

1. Sodium influx and loss rates in Gammarus pulex were measured at constant temperatures. The sodium loss rate was immediately influenced by a change in temperature, with a Q10 of 1.5 to 2.0 at temperatures between 0.3 and 21.5° C. The sodium influx rate is apparently influenced in the same way. 2. The sodium uptake mechanism in G. pulex from three localities was half-saturated at an external concentration of 0.10-0.15 mM/l. sodium. 3. The total sodium loss rate remained approximately constant in animals acclimatized to the range of external concentrations from 2 to about 0.2 mM/l. sodium. 18% of the sodium was lost in urine with a sodium concentration estimated at 30-50 mM/l. The remainder of the sodium loss was due to diffusion across the body surface. 4. In animals acclimatized to concentrations below about 0.2 mM/l. sodium the sodium loss rate was reduced, due to (a) a lower diffusion rate following a fall in the blood sodium concentration, and (b) the elaboration of a more dilute urine. 5. There was a very close association between changes in the blood sodium concentration, the elaboration of a very dilute urine, and the rate of sodium uptake at the body surface. The results indicate that a fall in the blood sodium concentration leads to simultaneous activation of the sodium uptake mechanisms at the body surface and in the antennary glands. 6. It is estimated that, by producing a dilute urine, total sodium uptake in G. pulex is shared equally between the renal uptake mechanism and the mechanism situated at the body surface. 7. In sea-water media G. pulex drinks and expels fluid from the gut. In a medium slightly hyperosmotic to the normal blood concentration the amount imbibed was equal to the normal rate of urine flow when in fresh water.


1967 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. T. W. POTTS ◽  
M. A. FOSTER ◽  
P. P. RUDY ◽  
G. PARRY HOWELLS

1. The total body sodium increases from 45.9 µM/g. fish in fresh water to 59.9 µM/g. fish in 200 % sea water. 2. The rate of exchange of sodium increases from 2 µM/g./hr. in fresh water to 60 µM/g./hr. in 100% sea water. 3. The rate of drinking increases from 0.26%/hr. fresh water to 1.6%/hr. in 400% sea water. Even in 200% sea water drinking accounts for only a quarter of the total sodium influx. 4. The permeability to water, as measured by tritiated water, is highest in fresh water and lowest in 200% sea water. The permeabilities to water measured in this way are consistent with the drinking rates determined in sea water and 200% sea water.


1969 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-605
Author(s):  
A. P. M. LOCKWOOD ◽  
W. R. H. ANDREWS

1. The sodium fluxes of individual Gammarus duebeni, which moulted in sea water, have been followed daily from the morning following moult for at least 6 days. 2. Sodium influx from sea water declined from 15.1µM/animal/hr. on the first morning after moult to 1.7µM/animal/hr. by the tenth day after moult. 3. Sodium influx from 10 mM/l. NaCl plus sucrose solution isotonic with sea water declines from 4.48µM/animal/hr. to 0.14µM/animal/hr. in inter-moult animals. 4. Thionine inhibits over 90% of the influx from 10 mM/l NaCl plus isotonic sucrose on the first day after moult, and this, together with other evidence, suggests that the major part of the influx from this medium is due to active sodium uptake. The rate of active uptake is comparable with, or faster than, the rate of uptake by animals acclimatized to fresh water. 5. The influx occurs primarily across the body surface. It is suggested that the high level of sodium uptake is associated with the water uptake which occurs at moult.


1960 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-112
Author(s):  
G. W. BRYAN

1. In distilled water or artificial tap water with a very low sodium concentration, sodium uptake by Astacus is prevented or reduced and 22Na outflux is subnormal. This is accounted for to only a small extent by reduced renal sodium losses. 2. Sodium-depleted animals replaced in artificial tap water regain sodium in a roughly exponential manner. This is shown by 22Na to be the result of a considerable increase in sodium influx coupled with an increased but lower outflux. 3. Sodium outfiux appears to consist of three components: urine losses, passive diffusion losses over the body surface and what may be an ‘exchange diffusion’ component which is high during high influx and minimal in distilled water. This latter component represents about 30% of sodium exchange under normal conditions. 4. Eyestalk removal did not affect the ability of Astacus to absorb sodium. 5. In starved animals the gills take up most of the sodium absorbed and the gut is relatively unimportant. 6. Silver staining of the gills is a passive process and the cuticle of the branchial filaments of the gill stem is selectively stained. This region would be a suitable site for ion uptake mechanisms.


1961 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
J. SHAW ◽  
D. W. SUTCLIFFE

1. The mechanisms of sodium balance in Gammarus duebeni and G. pulex, adapted to various external concentrations, were compared. 2. G. duebeni could be adapted to live in 1 mm/l. NaCl solution and, in some cases, to concentrations down to 0.2 mM/l. G. pulex could survive in concentrations as low as 0.06 mM/l. 3. The sodium loss rate in G. duebeni adapted to 2% sea water was much higher than in G. pulex but was reduced to about the same level when the animals were adapted to low external concentrations. 4. In both species there was a non-linear relationship between sodium influx and the external sodium concentration. In G. duebeni the uptake mechanism was saturated at an external concentration of about 10 mM/l., whereas in G. pulex saturation was reached at a much lower concentration. The maximum rate of uptake was greater in G. duebeni than in G. pulex. 5. In both species adaptation to low concentrations involved a small increase in the sodium influx and a reduction in the loss rate. 6. The most important factor in the superiority of G. pulex over G. duebeni in surviving at low external concentrations is the high affinity for sodium displayed by the uptake mechanism in G. pulex.


1972 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-131
Author(s):  
R. KIRSCH

1. New intra-vascular cannulation techniques are described, and also an extra-corporal blood circuit containing an artificial heart and a counting cell. This makes possible a continuous study of the radioactivity of the blood. 2. Plasma chloride concentration varies greatly in fresh-water eels despite good sodium regulation. 3. The fresh-water to sea-water adaptation of eels is frequently accompanied by a temporary hypermineralization of the internal medium. This necessitates a high degree of cellular euryhalinity. 4. The sea-water-adapted eel maintains strict homeostasis of its plasma chloride and sodium. 5. The chloride distribution space decreases by 10% when eels are transferred from fresh water to sea water. The internal distribution of chloride is also modified and its fluxes between the ion compartments of the body are considerably increased.


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