OXYGEN CONSUMPTION OF AN ASTEROID AND AN ECHINOID FROM THE ANTARCTIC
Open Access
- 1 April 1974
- journal article
- other
- Published by University of Chicago Press in The Biological Bulletin
- Vol. 146 (2) , 157-164
- https://doi.org/10.2307/1540614
Abstract
The mean oxygen consumption, QO2, in µlO2/g/hr at -1.8° C (ambient temperature), of the antarctic echinoid Sterechinus neumayeri and the antarctic asteroid Odontaster validus, determined with an oxygen electrode, were recorded as follows: neumayeri (whole body) 3.5±2.1, (body wall) 5.6±0.9; and O. validus (whole body) 4.9±1.5, (body wall) 9.6±2.0. The oxygen consumption fell with the decline in partial pressure of oxygen as the oxygen was used by the organisms. Small increases in temperature, from -1.8° C to 3° C, had no significant effect on the QO2 of whole animals, and at 3° C only a small effect on the QO2 of the body wall. Comparisons indicate that some temperate species have QO2 values in the same range as the antarctic species. Tropical species cited, however, consume oxygen at a higher rate than the antarctic species.Keywords
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