The Physiology of the Antennal Gland of Carcinus Maenas (L.)

1969 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-27
Author(s):  
R. BINNS
Keyword(s):  
Maximum Rate ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Carcinus Maenas ◽  
Threshold Level ◽  
Threshold Concentration ◽  
Antennal Gland ◽  
Glucose Reabsorption ◽  
Urine Production ◽  
Glucose Threshold ◽  
Approach Unity

1. Glucose is actively reabsorbed by the antennal gland. 2. In 100% sea water there is a blood threshold concentration of approximately 150 mg.%. This does not indicate the maximum rate of glucose reabsorption. 3. Below the threshold, reabsorption is not always complete, but may be if carbohydrate sources are limited or absent. 4. The threshold level depends on the rate at which fluid passes through the antennal gland, an increase in urine production rate being correlated with a reduction in the glucose threshold. 5. Phloridzin inhibits reabsorption and glucose U/B ratios approach unity, indicating that glucose is filtered passively into the antennal gland.

The Physiology of the Antennal Gland of Carcinus Maenas (L.)

1969 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
R. BINNS
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Carcinus Maenas ◽  
Urine Concentration ◽  
Antennal Gland ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Urine Production ◽  
Urine Concentrations

1. U/B ratios for inulin and sorbitol have been measured in 100%, 75% and 50% sea water. 2. When Carcinus is in 100% sea water, a U/B ratio of 1 for both sorbitol and inulin is reached and maintained after 40 and 115 hr. respectively. A reason for this difference is suggested. 3. In dilute media the rate of increase of U/B ratio for both molecules is more rapid than in 100% sea water. For instance, in 50% sea water the inulin U/B ratio is 1 after 50-60 hr. Sorbitol ratios are generally less than 1 in dilute sea water and a possible explanation of this is given. 4. In any particular concentration of sea water blood and urine concentrations of injected solutes fall at approximately the same rate once the maximum urine concentration has been reached. 5. It is concluded that primary urine production in Carcinus is by a filtration mechanism and that reabsorption of water from the urine does not normally occur.

The Physiology of the Antennal Gland of Carcinus Maenas (L.)

1969 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
R. BINNS
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Carcinus Maenas ◽  
Urine Flow ◽  
The Body ◽  
Antennal Gland ◽  
Urine Production ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Gland Function ◽  
Water Clearance

1. The space measured by inulin distribution, the ‘inulin volume’, has been determined, and represents approximately 20% of the body weight in crabs ranging in size from 20.0 to 57.2 g. 2. After the injection of labelled inulin into crabs, the increase in activity of the medium is equal to the fall in blood inulin in all dilutions of sea water. Clearance of inulin from the blood is due only to urine production, and therefore the molecule can be used for quantitative investigations of antennal gland function. 3. Urine production in various concentrations of sea water has been determined by measuring the clearance of inulin from the blood and the rates at which the tracer appeared in the external media. By these methods the mean rate of urine production in 100% sea water was estimated to be 4.4% body weight per day. In dilute sea water the rate of urine production increases; for example, in 50% sea water the urine flow is four times greater than in normal sea water.

The Physiology of the Antennal Gland of Carcinus Maenas (L.)

1969 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-39
Author(s):  
R. BINNS
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Carcinus Maenas ◽  
Complete Recovery ◽  
Sodium Concentration ◽  
Urine Concentration ◽  
Antennal Gland ◽  
Amino Acid Load ◽  
Urine Production

1. Amino acids are actively reabsorbed by the antennal gland of Carcinus in all concentrations of sea water, but there is never complete recovery of these molecules from the urine; even in animals in 100% sea water amino acids are eliminated in the urine. 2. The urine concentration of amino acids is related to (i) the blood amino acid concentration and (ii) the rate of urine production. An increase in either or both of these factors, for example, when animals are in dilute sea water, raises the U/B ratio of amino acids. 3. The rate of reabsorption of amino acids increases as the amino acid load on the antennal gland is raised. When reabsorption is maximal, the rate of transport is about seven times greater than at normal concentrations of amino acids in blood and urine when the animal is in 100% sea water. 4. Increases in blood amino acid concentrations when crabs are placed directly into dilute sea water are taken to be the result of changes in free amino acids of muscle which occur under these conditions. This intracellular regulation in dilute media is initiated when the blood sodium concentration is approximately 400 mM/l.

Internal Volume and Pressure Regulation in Carcinus Maenas

1978 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-132
Author(s):  
J.R. W. NORFOLK
Keyword(s):  
Internal Pressure ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Carcinus Maenas ◽  
External Environment ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Urine Flow ◽  
Pressure Regulation ◽  
Urine Production ◽  
Internal Volume

In Carcinus, in dilute media, internal volume and pressure were found to be regulated by the intermittent release of urine which maintained internal pressure at a mean value of 15 cm water, compared to a mean value of 10 cm for crabs in sea water. Following transfer of crabs from 100% to 50% sea water, urine production (measured by a continuous collection method) was observed to increase within 5 min of dilution of the medium, by which time the estimated increase in internal pressure would have been only 1.3 cm water. Such a pressure increase is considered inadequate to stimulate a rise in urine production, since artificially raising internal pressure of crabs in sea water did not result in an increase in urine flow, until the pressure was in excess of 20 cm water. The results support the hypothesis that the stimulus to increase urine production by crabs in dilute media is not raised internal pressure due to osmotic influx of water. An alternative hypothesis, namely that of changes in urine production being in response to direct monitoring of the external environment, is suggested.

Studies on Ionic Regulation in Carcinus Maenas (L.)

1961 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-152
Author(s):  
J. SHAW
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Carcinus Maenas ◽  
Sodium Concentration ◽  
Sodium Balance ◽  
Uptake Mechanism ◽  
Sodium Influx ◽  
Urine Production ◽  
Sodium Loss ◽  
Total Sodium

1. The mechanism of sodium balance in Carcinus maenas has been investigated. 2. Measurements of sodium outflux showed no evidence of a decrease in surface permeability to sodium in dilute sea water. 3. The rate of urine production in normal sea water was 3.6% body weight per day and the sodium loss through the urine was insignificant compared with the total sodium loss. In 40% sea water the urine rate was increased to 30% body weight per day and the loss in the urine accounted for 20% of the total loss. 4. Measurements of sodium influx and calculation of the active component showed that the active uptake mechanism was fully saturated at all external concentrations in which the animals could survive. 5. Regulation of the blood sodium concentration is effected largely by the activation of the sodium uptake mechanism. This prevents the blood concentration falling below a critical level as long as the external concentration itself is not too low.

Urinary Bladder Volume and the Reabsorption of Water from the Urine of Crabs

1974 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-181
Author(s):  
J. A. RIEGEL ◽  
A. P. M. LOCKWOOD ◽  
J. R. W. NORFOLK ◽  
N. C. BULLEID ◽  
P. A. TAYLOR
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Urinary Bladder ◽  
Blood Volume ◽  
Ethacrynic Acid ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Carcinus Maenas ◽  
Bladder Volume ◽  
Active Secretion ◽  
51Cr Edta

1. Measurements have been made to determine the blood volume, bladder volume, clearance of 131I-sodium diatrizoate and U/H for diatrizoate in the crabs Carcinus maenas and Macropipus (Portunus) depurator. 2. Observed values of clearance blood volume and bladder volume in the two species at 18 °C were: Clearance (as % blood volume per day), Macropipus 56.1±14.5; Carcinus 27.1±5.8; Blood volume (as % body weight), Macropipus 21.0±4.0; Carcinus 19.2±3.0; Bladder volume (as % blood volume), Macropipus 12.1 ±5.0; Carcinus 11.0±8.0. 3. It is shown that the measured U/H differs from that to be expected if no reabsorption of water or secretion of diatrizoate occurs. 4. 14C-inulin and 51Cr-EDTA are excreted in an essentially similar manner to 131I-diatrizoate by Carcinus, implying that any active secretion of diatrizoate must be small in magnitude. 5. Injections of ethacrynic acid decrease the U/H ratio for diatrizoate relative to that in control Carcinus injected with sea water. In some Carcinus the concentration of diatrizoate in the urine comes to exceed that initially present in the blood. Both these points are taken, with 3, as support for the conclusion that water can be withdrawn from the primary urine of Carcinus.

Zinc Regulation in the Lobster Homarus Gammarus: Importance of Different Pathways of Absorption and Excretion

1986 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Bryan ◽  
L. G. Hummerstone ◽  
Eileen Ward
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Carcinus Maenas ◽  
The Body ◽  
Shore Crab ◽  
Freshwater Crayfish ◽  
Uptake Mechanism ◽  
Major Pathway ◽  
Homarus Gammarus ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Body Concentration

Zinc is one of the most important of the essential trace metals and more than 90 zinc-containing enymes and proteins have been discovered: furthermore, zinc increases the activity of many other enzymes (Vallee, 1978). It is not surprising, therefore, that in some groups of animals the body concentration is regulated against fluctuations in intake. Decapod crustaceans comprise one such group, although the ways in which regulation is achieved vary from species to species. In the freshwater crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes, excretion in the faeces is a major pathway for removing zinc (Bryan, 1967a) whereas in the shore crab Carcinus maenas losses over the body surface also assume considerable importance (Bryan, 1966). On the other hand, preliminary work on the lobster Homarus gammarus (formerly H. vulgaris) suggests that in this species urinary excretion plays a major role in regulation (Bryan, 1964). The present work continues the study of zinc regulation in lobsters and its main aims are: (1) to measure rates of absorption from sea water over a wide range of concentrations and study the uptake mechanism; (2) to examine absorption from the stomach under different conditions; (3) to determine the relative importance of different pathways for the removal of zinc in response to various levels of intake.

Extracellular Fluid Volume Changes in Carcinus Maenas during Acclimation to Low and High Environmental Salinities

1982 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-173
Author(s):  
R. R. HARRIS ◽  
M. B. ANDREWS
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Carcinus Maenas ◽  
Extracellular Fluid ◽  
Blood Sampling ◽  
Extracellular Fluid Volume ◽  
Clearance Rates ◽  
Volume Changes ◽  
Marker Distribution ◽  
Water Contents

Changes in extracellular fluid (ECF) volume of Carcinus maenas (L.) were studied in vivo during acclimation to low and high environmental salinities. Initial investigations showed that there was a rapid equilibration into this compartment of the ECF markers used ([3H]inulin and [14C]hydroxymethyl inulin). Earlier reports of a relatively slow marker distribution, indicated from clearance curves, can be explained by high clearance rates occurring when frequent blood sampling was carried out. After transfer of the crabs to media hyposmotic to the haemolymph, ECF volumes decreased transiently to 74.8% of the initial volume, but within 40 h in 26% sea water original volumes were restored. Calculation of intracellular water contents suggests that a volume limitation phase precedes the regulatory return to the original volume. In hyperosmotic media, the ECF volumes increased significantly (to a maximum of 143%) but, in contrast to the response in hyposmotic conditions, showed only a partial return to the original volumes.

Reducing Activity and the Formation of Base in the Shore Crab, Carcinus Maenas

1985 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 505-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S. B. Digby
Keyword(s):  
Outer Surface ◽  
Biological Material ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Carcinus Maenas ◽  
Water Salinity ◽  
Shore Crab ◽  
Calcareous Deposits ◽  
Reducing Activity ◽  
Diffusion Potentials ◽  
Active Processes

Crustacean cuticle consists essentially of chitin impregnated and coated with protein which is tanned with quinone (Dennell, 1947a). The outer surface is most heavily tanned, and the cuticle is further strengthened by calcification. The various theories as to the mechanism of calcification in crustacean and other biological material have been reviewed briefly by Digby (1967). Most appear unsatisfactory for various reasons, and evidence was outlined that calcification might arise from the formation of base by processes which are essentially electrochemical in origin. The quinone-tanned protein of the cuticle is electrically semiconducting and supports electrode action in suitable gradients of potential (Digby, 1965), and small potential differences may arise by diffusion or by active processes. Thus the deposition of calcareous salts might arise partly at least by action comparable to that which takes place at a metallic cathode. In support of this, the position of the initial calcareous deposits in Carcinus maenas (L.) was found to change with the gradient of sea-water salinity in the manner expected if some control were exercised by diffusion potentials, acting across a thin semiconducting layer to generate small changes of pH (Digby, 1968).

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