The quantitative role of haemocyanin in the respiration of abalone (genusHaliotis)

✍ Scribed by Ainslie, Robert C.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1980
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 828 KB
• Volume: 211
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-104X
• DOI: 10.1002/jez.1402110110

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The bloods of the gastropod molluscs Haliotis ruber, H. laevigata, and H. roei deliver respectively 0.56 vol %, 0.62 vol %, and 0.90 vol % of oxygen to the tissues per circulatory cycle at the acclimation temperature 20°C. In each case over 80% of the oxygen delivered is bound to the haemocyanin. The greater amount of oxygen delivered by the blood of H. roei results primarily from the consistently higher haemocyanin concentration, hence oxygen carrying capacity, of the blood of, this species. It is hypothesized that this may be advantageous to this mobile, active abalone species by reducing the load on the circulatory system in maintaining respiration during activity.

Following an abrupt temperature increase from 20°C–25°C the oxygen delivered by the blood to the tissues per circulatory cycle decreases in all species, the most marked decrease being in H. roei which only delivers 67% of the 20°C value. In each case however, over 80% of the total delivered oxygen is still carried by the haemocyanin. Owing to the large oxygen carrying capacity of H. roei haemocyanin, the absolute amount of oxygen delivered per cycle is still larger than that in theother two species. A large reverse Bohr effect is apparent in all species at both temperatures, but its importance to the abalone is not clear when their mode of existence is considered.