Biol. Bull.
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Shick, J. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Shick, J. M.

The Biological Bulletin, Vol 179, Issue 1 148-158, Copyright © 1990 by Marine Biological Laboratory

PHYSIOLOGY

Diffusion Limitation and Hyperoxic Enhancement of Oxygen Consumption in Zooxanthellate Sea Anemones, Zoanthids, and Corals

J. M. Shick
Department of Zoology and Center for Marine Studies, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469-0146

Depending on their size and morphology, anthozoan polyps and colonies may be diffusion-limited in their oxygen consumption, even under well-stirred, air-saturated conditions. This is indicated by an enhancement of oxygen consumption under steady-state hyperoxic conditions that simulate the levels of O2 produced photosynthetically by zooxanthellae in the hosts' tissues. Such hyperoxia in the tissues of zooxanthellate species negates the effect of the diffusive boundary layer, and increases the rate of oxygen consumption; thus, in many cases, the rate of respiration measured under normoxia in the dark may not be representative of the rate during the day when the zooxanthellae are photosynthesizing and when the supply of oxygen for respiration is in the tissues themselves, not from the environment. These results have implications in respirometric methodology and in calculating the rate of gross photosynthesis in energetic studies. The activity of cytochrome c oxidase is higher in aposymbiotic than in zooxanthellate specimens of the sea anemone Aiptasia pulchella, and this may indicate a compensation for the relative hypoxia in the tissues of the former, enhancing the delivery of oxygen to the mitochondria from the environment.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Appl. Environ. Microbiol.Home page
S. C. Neulinger, J. Jarnegren, M. Ludvigsen, K. Lochte, and W.-C. Dullo
Phenotype-Specific Bacterial Communities in the Cold-Water Coral Lophelia pertusa (Scleractinia) and Their Implications for the Coral's Nutrition, Health, and Distribution
Appl. Envir. Microbiol., December 1, 2008; 74(23): 7272 - 7285.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Biol. Bull.Home page
O. Levy, L. Mizrahi, N. E. Chadwick-Furman, and Y. Achituv
Factors Controlling the Expansion Behavior of Favia favus (Cnidaria: Scleractinia): Effects of Light, Flow, and Planktonic Prey
Biol. Bull., April 1, 2001; 200(2): 118 - 126.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
P Furla, I Galgani, I Durand, and D Allemand
Sources and mechanisms of inorganic carbon transport for coral calcification and photosynthesis
J. Exp. Biol., January 11, 2000; 203(22): 3445 - 3457.
[Abstract] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1990 by the Marine Biological Laboratory.