Motility and energy-rich phosphorus compounds in spermatozoa of Octopus dofleini martini

1971 ◽  
Vol 178 (1051) ◽  
pp. 151-160 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Phosphorus Compounds ◽  
Short Exposure ◽  
Motile Sperm ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Irreversible Loss ◽  
Prolonged Incubation ◽  
The North ◽  
Sperm Suspension ◽  
The North Pacific

The spermatozoa of the giant octopus of the North Pacific, freshly removed from spermatophores, showed very little motility, but on dilution with sea-water or 2.7 % NaCl, followed by dialysis against either of these two media, they became intensely motile and remained so for several days at 2 to 10 °C. At higher temperatures, particularly above 25 °C, octopus spermatozoa lost their motility rapidly. At 35 °C, complete and irreversible loss of motility occurred within less than 1 min. The motility of octopus spermatozoa at 2 to 10 °C persisted under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions and did not require the presence of exogenous glycolysable sugar. The addition of spermatophoric plasma to a motile sperm suspension inhibited motility. Other inhibitors were sodium azide, 2, 4-dinitrophenol and ethylenediaminetetra-acetate, at 0.001 M concentrations. ATP, ADP and arginine phosphate have been identified and quantitatively measured in octopus spermatozoa. On prolonged incubation of motile sperm suspensions a t 3 °C, ATP and ADP did not decline appreciably, whilst arginine phosphate decreased considerably. The decrease was even more pronounced in sperm suspensions which had first been inactivated by short exposure to 35 °C, prior to prolonged incubation at 3 °C. Glycogen, the main carbohydrate store of octopus spermatozoa, remained at a high concentration even in sperm suspensions kept for 5 days at 3 °C, and there was no appreciable difference in that respect between a sample containing motile spermatozoa and one in which, at the outset of incubation, the spermatozoa were immobilized by heating to 35 °C.

Precise Measurements of Cesium in the Ocean by Flame Emission Spectrometry

1974 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. R. Folsom ◽  
N. Hansen ◽  
G. J. Parks ◽  
W. E. Weitz
Keyword(s):  
Gas Flow ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Emission Spectrometry ◽  
The North ◽  
Flame Emission ◽  
First Time ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
Peak Emission ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Significant Concentration

An automatic flame emission spectrometer has been developed for measuring traces of cesium in sea water samples with precision enough to demonstrate for the first time some significant concentration variations of this element in the ocean. Extremely reproducible comparisons of standard and unknown solutions are effected by a programmed sample changer employing a novel distribution valve. Temperature effects and influences of gas flow and draft fluctuation are suppressed by carrying out repeated comparisons of small portions of the extracted sample concentrate and of the standard, computing a concentration after each comparison and then averaging the results. Following each recording of the peak emission, the emission from a nearby spectral baseline also is automatically recorded by using a simple accessory added to the monochromator. A Plexiglas refractor slab mounted on an axis in front of the exit slit is rotated a few degrees by pulses from a programmer that is under command of a standard desktop calculator. Analyses of test samples containing about 0.3 µg of cesium replicated better than 0.3%. Surface cesium concentrations in the North Pacific were shown to vary less than 0.5%; however, typically deep water contained about 1.4% lower average concentrations than surface water.

Mechanism of the Spermatophoric Reaction in the Giant Octopus of the North Pacific, Octopus Dofleini Martini

1973 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 711-723
Author(s):  
D. HANSON ◽  
T. MANN ◽  
A. W. MARTIN
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
External Environment ◽  
Large Mass ◽  
Chloride Ions ◽  
Semipermeable Membrane ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Surrounding Water ◽  
The North ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The North Pacific

1. The spermatophoric reaction in the giant octopus requires 1-2 h, and during that time the large mass of spermatozoa contained in the proximal (male-oriented) portion of the spermatophore, is propelled over a metre-long distance to the distal (female-oriented) end. 2. Osmotic pressure provides the main mechanism for the spermatophoric reaction; and the influx of sea water, as a result of which the intraspermatophoric fluid space increases fivefold, provides the main force for driving the spermatozoa from the proximal to the distal end of the spermatophore. 3. The outer tunic of the spermatophore acts as a semipermeable membrane, permeable to sea water but not to macromolecular substances. Its strength is adequate to resist inside pressure 400 cm water in excess of the external environment. 4. In the normal course of spermatophoric reaction intraspermatophoric hydrostatic pressure increases from about 140 cm water at the onset of the reaction to about 330 cm H2O at the moment when the cap of the spermatophore ruptures and the ejaculatory apparatus is extruded; the rate at which pressure increases during this phase of the reaction is about 8 cm H2O/min. 5. Immediately after the extrusion of the ejaculatory apparatus the pressure falls precipitously. It then increases once more, but very slowly, reaching 45-95 cm H2O before the ejaculatory apparatus evaginates. It declines once more during the final stage of the evagination process. At the end of the spermatophoric reaction the transmural pressure is only about 9 cm H2O in the spermatophoric bladder but approximately 4 times higher in the proximal portion of the spermatophore. 6. In spite of the increase in the concentration of sodium and chloride ions in the intraspermatophoric fluid, the osmolality of that fluid remains largely unaltered throughout the whole spermatophoric reaction, but always at a level distinctly higher than the surrounding water (by about 30 mOsm/kg water). 7. Large-molecular glycoproteins in the spermatophoric plasma are probably undergoing enzymic breakdown by glycosidases during the spermatophoric reaction, as a result of which some carbohydrate, aminosugar and other nitrogenous organic material pass from the interior to the exterior of the spermatophore.

Intra-seasonal and inter-annual patterns in the demographics of sand lance and response to environmental drivers in the North Pacific

2019 ◽  
Vol 617-618 ◽  
pp. 221-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
MR Baker ◽  
ME Matta ◽  
M Beaulieu ◽  
N Paris ◽  
S Huber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Sand Lance ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
Annual Patterns
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