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Physiological adaptations to low temperature and brine exposure in the circumpolar amphipod Gammarus wilkitzkii

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Summary

The amphipod Gammarus wilkitzkii does not survive being frozen totally into solid sea ice. When the animals are cooled in air or freezing seawater, they will freeze and die at a temperature of about-4° C. However, during sea ice growth, the amphipods may tolerate to stay in the vicinity of the ice by conforming to the ambient brine in a salinity range of 34 ppt to about 60 ppt. A passive relationship between the concentrations of the haemolymph and seawater Na+ and Cl-, lowers the melting point of the body fluids of the animals, thus preventing internal ice formation at low temperatures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Trondheim, N-7055, Dragvoll, Norway

    A. V. Aarset & T. Aunaas

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  1. A. V. Aarset
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  2. T. Aunaas
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Aarset, A.V., Aunaas, T. Physiological adaptations to low temperature and brine exposure in the circumpolar amphipod Gammarus wilkitzkii . Polar Biol 8, 129–133 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00297067

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00297067

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