Abstract
Ammonia excretion was investigated in relation to oxygen consumption during a feeding regime and during shortterm starvation in two mature male Octopus vulgaris, trawled in spring 1983 off Banyuls-sur-mer. In our study, ammonia excretion is taken to include renal and gill loss. The excretion of primary amines was also studied, but proved to be negligible under our experimental conditions. Ammonia excretion and oxygen consumption are repetitive linear processes over 1 to 2 h incubation periods at 15° to 16°C, in both fed and starved conditions. Starvation induces a decline in ammonia excretion and oxygen consumption and an increase in the atomic O:N ratio, suggesting that O. vulgaris uses up other reserves (lipids) before utilizing an exclusively protein substrate.
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Communicated by J. M. Pérès, Marseille
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Boucher-Rodoni, R., Mangold, K. Ammonia excretion during feeding and starvation in Octopus vulgaris . Mar. Biol. 86, 193–197 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00399026
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00399026