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Journal of Experimental Biology 85,253-262 (1980)
Published by Company of Biologists 1980

Carbon Dioxide Exchange and its Effects on pH and Bicarbonate Equilibria in the Blood of the Amphibian, Xenopus Laevis

M. G. EMILIO ¹ and G. SHELTON ²

¹ Centro de Biologia, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal
² School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, England

1. The elimination of CO₂ through the lungs and skin of Xenopus laevis and its distribution between plasma and erythrocytes were determined during breathing and submergence periods.

2. CO₂ output does not decrease during submergence, as lack of lung ventilation is compensated by an increase in cutaneous exchange. The total CO₂ carried in the blood decreases after a 30 min dive, but the fraction carried in red blood cells increases substantially, due to an increase in the haematocrit values. This increase is related to a decrease in plasma volume during diving.

3. During short dives the blood shows changes characteristic of respiratory acidosis but longer dives result in a combination of respiratory and metabolic acidosis.