Haemolymph characteristics of a copper-tolerant decapod Orconectes virilis (Hagen) (Astacidae, Crustacea)
Naich, M.; Alikhan, M.A.
Archives Internationales de Physiologie et de Biochimie 95(2): 133-139
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-9799 PMID: 2444180 Document Number: 296615
The mean haemolymph volume in a copper-tolerant, intermoult (C2-C4) adult (more than a year old) Orconectes virilis, as determined by [14C-carboxylic] inulin dilution method, ranged from 61.17 .mu.l in females (mean wet body weight = 4.34 g; mean carapace length = 4.43 cm) to 61.79 .mu.l in males (mean wet weight = 5.73 g; mean carapace length = 4.49 cm). The mean haemolymph volume per cent varied from 14.5 (in females) to 31.1 (in males). Haemolymph from males had an average pH of 7.35, osmotic pressure of 414.1 mmol/kg H2O, and a specific gravity of 1.0603, while that from females averaged a pH of 7.48, osmotic pressure of 433.6 mmol/kg H2O and a specific gravity of 1.0469. Mean total haemocyte counts ranged from 3 434/mm3 (1 000/mm3 halinocytes, 1 125/mm3 hemi-granulocytes and 1 309/mm3 granulocytes) in males to 4 905/mm3 (1 525/mm3 halinocytes. 1 490/mm3 hemigranulocytes and 1 890/mm3 granulocytes) in females.