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Journal of Experimental Biology 152,167-187 (1990)
Published by Company of Biologists 1990

A Comparison of the Respiratory Function of the Haemocyanins of Vertically Migrating and Non-Migrating Pelagic, Deep-Sea Oplophorid) Shrimps

N. K. SANDERS ¹ and J. J. CHILDRESS ¹

¹ Oceanic Biology Group, Marine Science Institute and Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

Present address and address for correspondence: Bamfield Marine Station, Bamfield, B.C. V0R 1B0, Canada.

The effects of temperature and pH on haemocyanin oxygen-binding were compared for three species of diurnally vertically migrating and two species of non-migrating, pelagic oplophorid shrimps from the deep sea off the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The effects of L-lactate were also measured for three of these species. Haemocyanin concentrations were higher in the haemolymphs of oplophorids that migrate vertically (39.4, 46.8 and 57.6 mg ml^-1) than in those of non-migrators (26.0 and 36.4 mg ml^-1). Moderately high Bohr effects were found for vertically migrating and non-migrating oplophorids at all temperatures examined (5-25°C,=-0.46 to -0.80, and -0.55 to -0.88, respectively). The vertically migrating species had temperature-sensitive haemocyanins (H=-23.1 to -41.2 kJ mol^-1) across the normal temperature range (5-25°C) encountered during diurnal vertical migration. This results in haemocyanins that have relatively high affinities (P₅₀=0.80-1.06 kPa at pH 7.8,5°C) at the low temperatures and low O₂ partial pressures (approximately 2.66 kPa O₂ at 5°C) found at depth, and low affinities (P₅₀=4.00-4.66 kPa at pH 7.5, 25°C) at the higher temperatures and higher O₂ partial pressures (approximately 13.33-17.50 kPa at 25°C) found in the near-surface waters. In contrast, the non-migrating species, which live within a narrower temperature range (3-6°C) and at a constant, low partial pressure of O₂ (2.66-4.00 kPa), have haemocyanins with a high affinity for oxygen (P₅₀=0.67-0.93 kPa at pH 7.8, 5°C) and lower sensitivity to temperature (H=-4.2 to -21.6 kJ mol^-11). The effects of temperature on the haemocyanin oxygen-affinities of the vertical migrators appear to be highly adaptive, enabling these haemocyanins to be functional across the entire depth (and thus, temperature and oxygen partial pressure) range encountered.

Key words: haemocyanin, deep-sea, oplophorid, Acanthephyra, Oplophorus, Systellaspis, haemolymph, pelagic, oxygen binding, lactate, vertical migration

Accepted on April 24, 1990

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