Abstract
Respiration and nitrogen excretion rates of mature adult Loligo forbesi were investigated at the Roscoff Laboratory (North Brittany, France) during individual short-term incubation experiments in January 1986. The squids were in post-digestive condition and not actively swimming. Both oxygen uptake and nitrogen excretion are continuous processes. The metabolic rates of this active nektonic species (145 ml kg-1 h-1 oxygen uptake, 18.56 μg g-1 h-1 ammonia excretion) are distinctly higher than those of benthic cephalopods. Proteins constitute the main metabolic substrate for energetic needs. Besides ammonia, urea is also continuously released, in amounts ranging from 5 to 16% of ammonia-excretion values.
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Communicated by J. M. Pérès, Marseille
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Boucher-Rodoni, R., Mangold, K. Respiration and nitrogen excretion by the squid Loligo forbesi . Mar. Biol. 103, 333–338 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397267
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397267