Hemolymph Chloride Research Articles

Osmoregulation of the grass shrimp Palaemonetes pugio exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). I. Effecton chloride and osmotic concentrations and chloride-and water-exchange kinetics

Grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio, were capable of hypo- and hyper-osmotic regulation of body fluids. Hemolymph chloride and osmotic concentrations were maintained at relatively stable levels over a wide salinity range. Following an abrupt transfer from intermediate (14 and 17‰) to high (31 and 35‰) or low (1 and 2‰) salinities, hemolymph chloride levels exhibited initial overshoot and undershoot, respectively, of new steady-state levels. Osmotic concentrations exhibited an initial undershoot at low, but not overshoot at high salinity. Chloride space in salinity-acclimated shrimp was relatively stable at salinities from 1 to 35‰. Changes in chloride space following salinity transfer paralleled those of hemolymph chloride levels, and are discussed in the light of alterations in intracellular sodium concentrations reported earlier. Rate constants for chloride turnover indicated independent exchanges of sodium and chloride ions. Water-turnover measurements showed that permeability of P. pugio was greatest at the isosmotic salinity (17‰) and reduced at salinities which were associated with active osmoregulation. Exposure to sublethal and 96-h LC50 levels of Aroclor® 1254 did not seriously alter hemolymph chloride and osmotic concentrations, chloride space or chloride-exchange kinetics in adult shrimp. Disruption of hemolymph chloride regulation in juvenile shrimp was associated with large mortalities not observed in adults. Shrimp exposed to Aroclor 1254 at 17‰ S exhibited reduced water permeability similar to levels previously observed in controls at high and low salinities in response to osmotic or ionic gradients. Exposure to PCBs did not result in further reduction in permeability at the latter salinities.

Studies On Salt and Water Balance in Caddis Larvae (Trichoptera)

ABSTRACT Survival and regulation in sea-water media was studied in the freshwater caddises Limnephilus stigma and Anabolia nervosa. The majority of larvae did not survive for more than a few days at external salt concentrations greater than about 60 mM./l. NaCI. In sea-water media the haemolymph osmotic pressure increased to remain slightly hyper-osmotic to the medium. The haemolymph sodium level also increased to remain slightly hypertonic to the medium, but the chloride level was maintained hypotonic until just prior to death of the larvae. When the haemolymph chloride concentration was raised above the normal level, the Malpighian tubule-rectal system elaborated fluid in which the chloride concentration was hypertonic to the haemolymph. The system is highly sensitive to changes in the haemolymph chloride level. The regulation of body-fluid composition in the freshwater caddises is compared with that found previously in the euryhaline larvae of Limnephilus affinis. It is suggested that the maintenance of a low haemolymph sodium concentration L. affinis larvae is an important part of the adaptation for survival in salt water.

Studies On Salt and Water Balance in Caddis Larvae (Trichoptera)

ABSTRACT Limnephilus affinis larvae tolerate external salt concentrations up to at least 410 mM./l. NaCl (about 75 % sea water) and survive for short periods in 470 mM./l. NaCl (about 85 % sea water). The body wall is highly permeable to water, but relatively impermeable to sodium and chloride. Most of the sodium and chloride uptake from salt water occurs via the mouth. The sodium and chloride levels in the haemolymph are powerfully regulated. Both are maintained strongly hypotonic against large external concentration gradients. The Malpighian tubule-rectal system is very sensitive to changes in the haemo-lymph chloride level. The chloride concentration in the rectal fluid can be at least three times greater than the concentration in the haemolymph, and slightly greater than the concentration in the external medium. The rectal fluid is hyper-osmotic to the haemolymph and to the medium at high external salt concentrations. At external concentrations greater than about 200 mM./l. NaCl, water balance is maintained by regulating the haemolymph roughly iso-osmotic with the medium. This is partly achieved by increasing the non-electrolyte fraction in the haemolymph. A small quantity of osmotically free water is available to replace any osmotic loss. This can be obtained by drinking salt water and producing a concentrated solution of salts in the rectum.

Chloride regulation and the function of the coxal glands in ticks

Chloride regulation. Following the ingestion of a blood meal the tick excretes about half the ingested water in the coxal fluid. The mean haemolymph chloride concentration before feeding is 1.00% and after feeding 0.96% NaCl; and that of the coxal fluid, 0.80% NaCl. These results confirm the values given by Boné (1943).Morphology of the coxal glands. These comprise the coxal glands proper, which elaborate the bulk of the coxal fluid, and the smaller accessory glands of unknown function. Each flask-shaped coxal gland consists of two distinct regions, an outer ‘filtration chamber’ and an inner system of tubules. The latter lead to the external opening. The filtration chamber, which communicates with the tubules at only one point, is highly folded into an elaborate series of pockets and fingers which closely invest the tubules; numerous small muscle fibres inserted in these pockets pass outwards from the gland to attachments on the body wall. The histology of the two regions is entirely different: the filtration membrane is only 1–2μ in thickness and its cellular origin is much obscured: the tubule walls are 5–30 μ in thickness, are composed of cells with a dense, deeply staining cytoplasm, and are richly supplied with tracheae. In Ornithodorus delanoei acinus the walls of the sac-like coxal glands are lined both by ‘filtration membrane’ and by large irregular groups of ‘secretory’ cells; there are no true tubules.Function of the coxal glands. The production of coxal fluid is under muscular control. It is believed that the contraction of the coxal gland muscles enlarges the filtration chamber and sets up a sufficient pressure difference across the membrane to initiate filtration into the gland. In the subsequent passage of the fluid down the tubules threshold substances such as chloride are reabsorbed. That the coxal fluid is primarily an ultrafiltrate of the haemolymph is suggested by (a) the rapid passage of dyes and even haemoglobin into the coxal fluid after injection into the haemolymph and (b) the very high rate of liberation of fluid. Serum albumen sometimes passes into the coxal fluid after injection but casein (and the normal haemolymph proteins) are fully retained.