Abstract
1. 1. Valve movements monitored from Mytilus edulis acclimated to 34‰ SW during exposure to low salinity indicate that the shell is not used to isolate the mussel from hypoosmotic SW when the salinity is 17‰ or greater. 2. 2. The water content of the whole animal, gill and posterior adductor muscle tissue; hemolymph osmotic pressure, Na +, and Cl − concentrations were determined hourly for 9 hr in mussels with valves propped open and exposed to five hypoosmotic salinities from 25.5 to 3.4‰. 3. 3. Water loading was essentially complete within the first 2hr of exposure: whole animal water content increased 26.51 g H 2O/100g wet tissue in 11.2‰ while the gill tissue water content increased only 2.48 g H 2O/100g wet tissue. During the first 2hr of exposure hemolymph osmotic pressure decreased 200–250 mOsm, regardless of salinity, and at all salinities below 25.5‰ the hemolymph remained hyperosmotic to the medium for the 9 hr of the experiment. 4. 4. When taken together, these data suggest physiological mechanisms other than valve closure are responsible for tolerance of short duration hypoosmotic stress in Mytilus edulis.
Published Version
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