Abstract
Rates of oxygen consumption (QO2) were measured for Pleuroncodes planipes Stimpson as a function of temperature, size, hydrostatic pressure, and oxygen partial pressure. These rates were independent of hydrostatic pressure and dependent on temperature over environmental ranges normally encountered by P. planipes. The effect of size on QO2 was intermediate between surface area and unity. Q10 values between adjacent temperatures from 10° to 25°C ranged from 1.9 to 2.5. At all temperatures the crustaceans regulated their QO2 down to very low partial pressures of oxygen. The critical partial pressure (P c) increased with increasing temperature but the low P c at 10°C suggests that P. planipes lives aerobically in the oxygen minimum layer. When plotted against a typical hydrographic regime from its environment, the QO2 of P. planipes was found to decrease with increasing depth.
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Communicated by J.S. Pearse, Santa Cruz
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Quetin, L.B., Childress, J.J. Respiratory adaptations of Pleuroncodes planipes to its environment off Baja California. Mar. Biol. 38, 327–334 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391372
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391372