Abstract
1. Sterol composition of the aboral body-wall of male specimens of Asterias rubens starved for three weeks, was compared with that of male sea stars which during the starvation period had been exposed to cadmium (100 μg l ). 2. Sterol composition of non-exposed animals appeared to be constant as assessed over a period of four years. 3. Cadmium-exposure strongly influenced sterol composition. The effect was related to the reproductive cycle, effects being different in the spermatogenic and the aspennatogenic phase. 4. Effects on total C 27-, C 28-,Δ 7.22-, and some individual sterols showed abrupt changes in November and March, coinciding with the start and the end of the reproductive cycle. 5. In one experiment additional parameters were determined. Cadmium-exposure resulted in a significant increase of polar lipids in the body-wall and a decrease of the sterol/phospholipid ratio. The increase of polar lipids was accompanied by a decrease of C 28-sterols. Consequences for viscosity are discussed. 6. Cadmium-exposure also resulted in a decrease of phosphatidylserine and an increase of phosphatidylethanolamine.
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