Der Sauerstoffverbrauch und der Gehalt an Ca, Cu und einigen anderen Spurenelementen bei terrestrischen Asseln

Abstract

The oxygen consumption and the content of Ca, Cu, K, Sr, Zn, Fe, P and Mg was determined in several terrestric isopods. Porcellio scaber, Syspastus brevicornis and the three species of Armadillidium investigated display significant differences in their calcium contents and there is an inverse relationship between the latter and the oxygen consumption of the animals at 20 °C. The Qo2 of S. brevicornis is 13 ± 3.5 mm3/g/hr, the lowest ever recorded for a crustacean at 20 °C. The copper content of the isopods is high and suggests the presence of hemocyanin. It is highest in a population of P. scaber from Cornwall, England, where it amounts to approximately 0,1% of the dry weight of the animals. Most of the copper is present in the four hepatic tubules (hepatopancreas) which, in one sample from the population mentioned above, contained 1.4% copper, the highest value ever found in an invertebrate. The Qo2 of animals with more or less filled gut seems to be higher in the population with the high copper content, whereas in animals with half empty or empty gut the oxygen consumption is the same in the three populations of P. scaber studied.