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Hypoosmoregulation of larvae of the turbot, Scophthalamus maximus: drinking and gut function in relation to environmental salinity

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Abstract

Measurement of blood osmolarity of pre-metamorphic turbot larvae demonstrated that hypoosmoregulation is well established in larvae 6 days post-hatch (121 degree-days) and older. Blood osmolarity of 121–420 degree-day larvae reared in 100% seawater was significantly greater than blood osmolarity of larvae reared in 50% seawater. Hypoosmoregulation involved drinking, but instantaneous drinking rates of 340 degree-day larvae reared in 100% seawater were only slightly more than those of similarly aged larvae reared in 50% seawater. Adaptation to environmental salinity involved changes in gut water absorption; 65–74% water absorption occurred in larvae reared in seawater compared to 30–35% water absorption in larvae reared in 50% seawater. Gastrointestinal water absorption occurred prior to the rectum. In seawater this occurred alongside a decrease in gut fluid osmolarity but desalting was apparently less significant than in adult fish. Absolute water absorption by the gut of 340 degree-day larvae reared in seawater was about 2-fold that of larvae held in 50% seawater, while the osmotic gradient between internal body fluids and environmental media differed by 4-fold, which implies changes the in water permeability of skin and/or developing gills.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Hatherly Laboratories, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4PS

    J. Anne Brown

  2. Department of Biological and Molecular Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, Scotland

    Peter Tytler

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  1. J. Anne Brown
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  2. Peter Tytler
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Brown, J.A., Tytler, P. Hypoosmoregulation of larvae of the turbot, Scophthalamus maximus: drinking and gut function in relation to environmental salinity. Fish Physiol Biochem 10, 475–483 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00004602

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