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https://hdl.handle.net/2440/52320
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Type: | Journal article |
Title: | Haemoglobin as a buoyancy regulator and oxygen supply in the backswimmer (Notonectidae, Anisops) |
Author: | Matthews, P. Seymour, R. |
Citation: | The Journal of Experimental Biology, 2008; 211(24):3790-3799 |
Publisher: | Company of Biologists Ltd |
Issue Date: | 2008 |
ISSN: | 0022-0949 1477-9145 |
Statement of Responsibility: | Philip G. D. Matthews and Roger S. Seymour |
Abstract: | Unlike all other diving insects, backswimmers of the genus Anisops can exploit the pelagic zone by temporarily achieving near-neutral buoyancy during the course of a dive. They begin a dive positively buoyant due to the large volume of air carried in their ventral air-stores, but rapidly enter a protracted period of near-neutral buoyancy before becoming negatively buoyant. This dive profile is due to haemoglobin found in large tracheated cells in the abdomen. Fibre optic oxygen probes placed in the air-stores of submerged bugs revealed that oxygen partial pressure (PO2) dropped in a sigmoid curve, where a linear decline preceded a plateau between 5.1 and 2.0 kPa, before a final drop. Buoyancy measurements made by attaching backswimmers to a sensitive electronic balance showed the same three phases. Inactivating the haemoglobin by fumigating backswimmers with 15% CO eliminated both buoyancy and PO2 plateaus. Oxygen unloaded from the haemoglobin stabilises the air-store during the neutrally buoyant phase after a decrease in volume of between 16% and 19%. Using measurements of air-store PO2 and volume, it was calculated that during a dive the haemoglobin and air-store contribute 0.25 and 0.26 µl of oxygen, respectively. |
Keywords: | buoyancy haemoglobin insect respiration |
DOI: | 10.1242/jeb.018721 |
Published version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.018721 |
Appears in Collections: | Aurora harvest Earth and Environmental Sciences publications |
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