Summary
The gammarid amphipod Onisimus litoralis, which inhabits arctic and subarctic intertidal and under-ice habitats, is a euryhaline hyperosmotic regulator. It survives 10 d exposures to salinities from 5 to 55 ppt. It hyperregulates its hemolymph osmolality during 3 h exposures to dilutions of 33 ppt seawater and remains hyperosmotic for at least 2 w. The hemolymph is isosmotic to the medium after 12 h exposures to salinities higher than ≈33 ppt. The gammarid amphipod Anonyx nugax, which inhabits arctic and subarctic subtidal areas, tolerates salinities from 23 to 45 ppt with little mortality. Unlike Onisimus, however, it is an osmoconformer and its hemolymph becomes isosmotic to all dilute salinities within its tolerance range after 12 h and to concentrated media after 3 h. The salinity tolerances and osmoregulatory abilities of both species are reflected in their distributions in the field.
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Shea, J.R., Percy, J.A. Salinity tolerance and osmoregulation of the arctic marine amphipods Onisimus litoralis (Kroyer) and Anonyx nugax (Phipps). Polar Biol 10, 275–281 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238426
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238426