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Journal of Experimental Biology 61,719-736 (1974)
Published by Company of Biologists 1974

Sodium Regulation and Adaptation to Fresh Water in the Isopod Genus Asellus

D. W. SUTCLIFFE ¹

¹ Freshwater Biological Association, The Ferry House, Far Sawrey, Ambleside, Cumbria LA22 OLP

1. The principal features of the sodium regulatory mechanism are compared in Asellus communis Say, A. aquaticus (L.) and A. meridianus Rac.

2. Water content and total concentrations of sodium and chloride are similar in the three species, but they differ with respect to values for K_max, K_m, the loss rate, and the minimum sodium balance concentration.

3. It is suggested that A. meridianus, A. aquaticus and A. communis represent a natural series of increasing adaptation to fresh water. A. communis from North America is completely adapted to fresh water. It has the lowest loss rate, the lowest maximum saturation level (K_max) for sodium influx, and the highest affinity (low K_m value) for sodium ions in the transporting system at the body surface. In many respects A. meridianus resembles freshwater populations of Mesidotea entomon and Gammarus duebeni, and may therefore have had a relatively short history in fresh water.