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Gut haems in the invertebrates.
Author(s) -
Phear Elizabeth A.,
Fox H. Munro
Publication year - 1955
Publication title -
proceedings of the zoological society of london
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0370-2774
DOI - 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1955.tb00605.x
Subject(s) - biology , zoology , daphnia magna , daphnia , invertebrate , helix (gastropod) , crustacean , ecology , gastropoda , chemistry , toxicity , organic chemistry
SUMMARY.1 A survey has shown that protohaemochromogens in the gut lumen are widely distributed in Mollusca and Polychaeta, but are not widespread in Crustacea. These compounds were always found in highest concentration in the anterior part of the gut. 2 All the Polychaeta examined, with the exception of two species of Chaetopteridae, were found to have a gut protohaem compound, and in several species this was shown to be methaemoglobin, or an undentified compound which may have been haematin but was not 2 haemochromogen. Haemochromogens were of more frequent occurrence in tubicolous than in free‐living Polychaeta. 3 In several species of Polychaeta an inverse correlation was established between the concentration of gut haem (as haemochromogen or unidentified haem) and that of the respiratory pigment in the blood (whether haemoglobin or chlorocruorin). 4 The survey has given no indication of the factors governing the presence or the nature of the particular haem compound in the gut, but there is evidence that these compounds are derived from the tissues of the animal in which they are found rather than from the food. 5 The variation in the concentration of haemochromogen in the gut of Helix aspersa and Daphnia magna has been studied in the field and in the laboratory. 6 The concentration has been found to vary little with the nature of the food, although in Daphnia an external factor of unknown nature has been found to be necessary for the maintenance of a high concentration in mature animals. 7 The amount of helicorubin in the crop of Helix has been shown to vary with the activity of the animals, and with the state of digestion of the food. 8 Evidence has been put forward that helicorubin is reabsorbed from the gut of Helix , and that it is not lost from the body. 9 The amount of daphniarubin in the anterior part of the gut of Daphnia has been found to vary with the activity of the gut, but the chief cause of variation is the concentration of body haem. Direct and inverse correlations with the haemoglobin concentration in the blood have been established under different conditions.