The Mechanism of Osmotic Regulation in Artemia Salina (L.): The Physiology of the Gut

Abstract

1. Artemia is continuously swallowing its medium, whether it is hyper-, iso-, or hypotonic to the haemolymph, and taking up water from the gut lumen. 2. The osmotic pressure of the gut fluids is appreciably greater than that of the haemolymph, but in the more concentrated media is considerably below that of the medium. This indicates that considerable amounts of NaCl must be passing across the gut epithelium into the haemolymph. 3. The concentration of both sodium and chloride ions in the gut fluids is always less than that in the haemolymph, indicating that there must be an active uptake of NaCl across the gut epithelium. 4. It is considered that the gut of Artemia has become adapted as a mechanism for the active uptake of water, controlling water balance and preventing dehydration in hypertonic media. 5. The adaptations for maintaining the NaCl and the water balances in Artemia are compared to those found in the marine teleosts, and are shown to be extremely similar.