Abstract
The respiratory and acid-base responses to hypoxia of the sea urchin Psammechinus miliaris Gmelin have been studied both in the laboratory and in the field. Sea urchins were collected from the Clyde Sea area, Scotland, between March and July 1993. Individual urchins were unable to regulate their oxygen uptake during hypoxia. The partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) in the coelomic fluid was lower than ambient PO2 during normoxia but still decreased with a decrease in environmental PO2. There was a significant increase in pH and in the concentrations of bicarbonate, magnesium and calcium in the coelomic fluid, but a significant decrease in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2), in response to declining PO2s. The disturbance of respiratory parameters in urchins accompanying hypoxic exposure in rock pools was similar to that observed in the laboratory, although not as severe as might have been expected on the basis of the laboratory experiments.
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