Ventilation and respiratory gas exchanges of the lugworm Arenicola marina (L.) as functions of ambient PO2 (20-700 torr).

Ventilatory regulation of intact, unrestrained lugworms Arenicola marina living in glass-tube artificial burrows was examined for values of inspired seawater PO2, PIO2, from 20 to 700 torr, at constant ambient pH and PCO2 values. The water ventilation rate and the respiratory characteristics of the ventilated seawater were measured. The water convection requirement and the corresponding specific rates of O2 uptake and CO2 production were calculated. The mean ventilatory water flow was a complex function of PIO2: decrease in hyperoxia, increase in hypoxia, decrease in extreme hypoxia. Compared to the normoxic responses, hyperoxia led to a hypercapnia (and acidosis) and moderate hypoxia to a hypocapnia (and alkalosis) in the expired water, variations which presumably reflect blood acid-base balance changes. Thus, as in other water breathers, the regulation of the organism's oxygenation may override the regulation of its acid-base balance. The lugworm's oxygen exchanger is highly efficient. However, below a critical partial pressure, PIO2 ca 120 torr, values of O2 consumption and ventilation decreased. A second critical O2 partial pressure appeared at PIO2 values between 80 and 40 torr; a 'switch-on' of anaerobic metabolism. These phenomena may be viewed as features of an adaptative respiratory strategy selected for in relation with the lugworm's particular peristaltic ventilatory mechanism and its intertidal mode of life.