Thermal preference, tolerance and temperature-dependent respiration in the California sea hare Aplysia californica

Ana Denisse Re, Fernando Díaz, Alfredo Salas-Garza, Marco Gonzalez, Victor Cordero, Clara E. Galindo-Sanchez, Edna Sanchez-Castrejon, Adolfo Sánchez Zamora, Alexei Licea-Navarro

Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada Baja California, México.
Laboratorio de Biología Celular y Molecular, Departamento de Biotecnología Marina, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), Ensenada Baja California, México.
Laboratorio de Ecofisiología de Organismos Acuáticos, Departamento de Biotecnología Marina, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), Ensenada Baja California, México.
Laboratorio de Ecofisiología de Organismos Acuáticos, Departamento de Biotecnología Marina, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), Ensenada Baja California, México;.
Laboratorio de Genómica Funcional, Departamento de Biotecnología Marina, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), Ensenada Baja California, México.
Unidad Multidisciplinaria de Docencia e Investigación, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de México, Sisal, México.

DOI: 10.4236/as.2013.46A007                

Abstract

The thermoregulatory behavior of sea hare Aplysia californica was determined in a horizontal thermal gradient; with a preferred temperature (PT) of 18.3°C for the day cycle and 20.8°C for the night cycle. The displacement velocity demonstrated an initial rate of 30 cm·hˉ¹ and gradually the velocity diminished to 18 cm·hˉ¹ with several fluctuations mainly at 02:00 am. Critical Temperature Maxima (CTMax refers to the temperature point where at least 50% of the experimental group have a loss of attachment) was measured at three acclimation temperatures (16°C, 19°C and 22°C). At the lowest acclimation temperature (16°C), 50% of the experimental group had an attachment loss at CTMax 32.7°C, and in a higher acclimation temperature (22°C) CTMax was 36.2°C. The Oxygen Consumption Rate (OCR) was closely correlated to acclimation temperature, and at 16°C and 19°C sea hare had a relatively stable metabolic rate, with OCR increasing to 9 mg O₂ hˉ¹·kgˉ¹ w.w. in a higher acclimation temperature.

Keywords

Thermoregulatory Behavior; CTMax; Oxygen Consumption; Aplysia californica

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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