A buoyancy mechanism found in cranchid squid

Abstract

Three species of cranchid squid have been studied at sea and found to be nearly neutrally buoyant in sea water. They each possess a very large coelom filled with a fluid whose density is low in comparison with sea water and this gives a lift sufficient to balance the denser tissues of the animal. This coelomic fluid is nearly iso-osmotic with sea water and its relatively low density arises because it is principally a solution of ammonium chloride in water. The fluid is acid and the significance of this is discussed. Two additional species of cranchid squid whose buoyancies were not measured were also shown to have very high concentrations of ammonium chloride in their coeloms and it seems likely that this buoyancy mechanism is used by all the Cranchidae.