Abstract
Respiration (dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide) and excretion (dissolved organic carbon, inorganic and organic nitrogen and phosphorus) rates were measured for a variety of sizes of Mnemiopsis leidyi over a temperature range of 10.3° to 24.5°C. Both respiration and excretion rates were a direct linear function of animal weight and very temperature sensitive (Q10≊4). Oxygen uptake ranged from 155 to 489 μg at O/(g dry weight) day-1 and carbon dioxide release from 43 to 166 μM. Organic carbon made up about 38% of the total carbon released. Inorganic nitrogen excretion, exclusively in the form of ammonium, comprised 54% of the total nitrogen release and ranged from 10 to 36 μM NH4/(g dry weight) day-1. Average release of dissolved primary amines (expressed as glycine equivalents) equaled 43% of the organic nitrogen fraction. Inorganic phosphorus release ranged from 2.0 to 4.9 μM/(g dry weight) day-1 and made up about 72% of the total phosphorus loss. The turnover of elements in the body was calculated as 5 to 19% per day for carbon and nitrogen, depending on the temperature, and an even higher 20 to 48% per day for phosphorus. These values are comparable to rates observed for small, active zooplankton.
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Communicated by J.S. Pearse, Santa Cruz
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Kremer, P. Respiration and excretion by the ctenophore Mnepiopsis leidyi . Mar. Biol. 44, 43–50 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00386903
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00386903