EFFECT OF MORPHOMETRIC MATURITY AND SIZE ON ENZYME ACTIVITIES AND NUCLEIC ACID RATIOS IN THE SNOW CRAB CHIONOECETES OPILIO

Indicators of metabolic capacity and the potential for protein synthesis in male snow crabs, Chionoecetes opilio, were measured to estimate how these factors are affected by morphometric maturity and body size. The metabolic capacity of muscle, as depicted by cytochrome C oxidase (CCO), citrate synt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of crustacean biology 1998, Vol.18 (2), p.232-242
Main Authors: Mayrand, Elise, Guderley, Helga, Dutil, Jean-Denis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Animal physiology
Body size
Chionoecetes opilio
Crabs
Crustaceans
DNA
Enzymes
Marine
Muscles
Nucleic acids
RNA
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Summary:Indicators of metabolic capacity and the potential for protein synthesis in male snow crabs, Chionoecetes opilio, were measured to estimate how these factors are affected by morphometric maturity and body size. The metabolic capacity of muscle, as depicted by cytochrome C oxidase (CCO), citrate synthase (CS), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, was greater in adults than in adolescents, while that of the digestive gland was not affected by maturity. These differences may reflect the different locomotory habits of adults and adolescents. Indicators of the potential for protein synthesis, the RNA:DNA and protein:RNA ratios, did not differ between adult and adolescent crabs, presumably because the animals were in late intermolt stage and flesh growth was already completed. The total mass of muscle, as estimated by the flesh content of the merus, and the total capacity of muscle CCO scaled isometrically with body mass, while that of CS scaled with an exponent
ISSN:0278-0372
1937-240X
DOI:10.2307/1549317