Summary
The freshwater fish,Cirrhina reba, is acclimated to different salinities up to 50% sea-water and found to be stenohaline. Survival in 50% seawater is only 12 hours.
Both tissue fluid chloride and blood choride increase with the increase of salinity of the medium.
In 40% sea-water blood chloride shows an increase of 14% over the freshwater fish while tissue fluid chloride increases by 83%. But in 50% sea-water, which is lethal, blood chloride increases sharply while tissue fluid chloride is nearly double that in freshwater.
Fish kept in distilled water for one day show a 17% decrease in blood chloride while chloride in tissue fluid remains unaltered.
The results are discussed and it is suggested that part of the regulation consists in shifting some of the blood chloride to the tissue fluids. In 50% sea-water failure seems to be in the inability of the fish to pump out the excess chloride as fast as it enters.
Acclimation to high temperature results in a slight decrease in chloride in the blood and tissue fluids.
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Communicated by Dr. H. Srinivasa Rao,f.a.sc.
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Selvarajan, V.R. Chloride regulation in a freshwater fish,Cirrhina reba, under heterosmotic conditions and high temperature. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 55, 91–98 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03051870
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03051870