Eur. J. Entomol. 96 (2): 205-209, 1999
Intertidal respiration of Anurida maritima (Collembola: Neanuridae)
- N/A
The intertidal collembolan Anurida maritima can endure periods of twice-daily submergence by seawater. The air-breathing terrestrial apterygote insect has developed specific adaptations to prevent respiratory failure during hypoxic stress. When submerged, the animal is initially enclosed by an air-bubble. This bubble lasts three times longer than the small amount of stored oxygen would allow. The air bubble acts not only as an oxygen store but also as a compressible gas gill. This was demonstrated by an O2-needle electrode technique which allowed recordings of pO2 changes in the watery medium close to the animal. Oxygen uptake in A. maritima follows an aerial mode of respiration during the first three hours of submergence. Oxygen consumption rate at decreasing ambient O2 partial pressures showed oxyregulating behaviour during severe hypoxia.
Keywords: Collembola, Anurida, intertidal respiration, hypoxia, oxyregulation, pO2 needle electrode
Accepted: January 25, 1999; Published: June 30, 1999 Show citation
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.