Sublethal effects of hypoxia in the abalone ( Haliotis rufescens) as measured by in vivo31P NMR spectroscopy

Abstract

1. 1. Effects of hypoxia were investigated in red abalones ( Haliotis rufescens) using a flow-through exposure system and in vivo 31P NMR spectroscopy. 2. 2. Following seawater acclimation, abalones were exposed to air for 1 hr, then seawater for 2.5 hr to check recovery; parallel controls were performed without air exposure. 3. 3. In foot muscle, hypoxia produced a decrease in phosphoarginine concentration and intracellular pH, an increase in inorganic monophosphate concentration, and no change in that of ATP; upon resubmergence, all effects generally recovered. 4. 4. The changes induced by hypoxia during normal tidal changes are consistent with the blockage of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. 5. 5. Use of in vivo NMR allows measurement of the biochemical effects of natural stress factors in live, intact aquatic organisms in the laboratory.