Lactate accumulation in the intertidal hermit crab, <i>Pagurus samuelis</i>, in response to burial-induced hypoxia

Abstract

Abstract. We subjected the intertidal hermit crab, Pagurus samuelis (Stimpson, 1857), to various treatments to determine physiological responses of this species to the environmental stress of burial. Hermit crabs were buried with 6 cm of sediment and excavated at 2 h intervals up to a maximum of 12 h. Duration of burial and state (alive or dead) of the crab were analyzed for effects on lactate accumulation in hemolymph. Hermit crab weight, shell weight, weight ratio, lactate, and burial duration were analyzed for their influence on survival. As expected, lactate levels, as well as incidence of death, rose with duration of burial. Significant interaction, however, was also found between burial duration, crab state, and lactate concentration. There was a trend for lactate concentration to be low for surviving crabs, yet higher for dead crabs during shorter burial durations. Conversely and surprisingly, lactate concentrations were very high in surviving crabs, yet lower in dead crabs during long burial durations. Since some surviving crabs were able to develop very high lactate levels, we suggest that lactate buildup itself is unlikely to be the sole cause of death. Further studies are needed to identify factors affecting crab resilience during the stress of burial.

Air Exposure Affects Physiological Responses, Innate Immunity, Apoptosis and DNA Methylation of Kuruma Shrimp, Marsupenaeus japonicus

“…During hypoxia, crustaceans utilize anaerobic glycolysis to satisfy their energy requirements, thus accumulating lactate (Soñanez-Organis et al, 2010;Dunbar et al, 2017;Valère-Rivet et al, 2019). For the early stages of air exposure, the lactate concentrations remained elevated through 2.5 and 5 h postexposure, which were consistent with the results of Abe et al (Abe et al, 2007;Aparicio-Simón et al, 2018).…”

The impact of chasing stress on the metabolism of the Atlantic Ghost Crab Ocypode quadrata (Fabricius, 1787)

“…Chasing immediately increased lactate concentration in the hemolymph of O. quadrata which remained high until 30 min of recovery, while muscle lactate was not affected. Hemolymphatic lactate levels usually increase when crustaceans are exposed to hypoxic/anoxic environments (Chung & Zmora, 2008; Dunbar et al, 2017; Maciel et al, 2008; Valère‐Rivet et al, 2019) or exercise (Henry et al, 1994; Morris et al, 2010; Turner et al, 2013; Wood & Po, 2022). When subjected to intermittent exercise in a treading mill, the levels of lactate in the leg muscle of O. quadrata increased during the exercise but rapidly decreased during brief pause periods (Weinstein & Full, 1992, 1998).…”