Isabel Regoli

Biology 120 – Crab Lab Report

I. Abstract
Many animals either conform, regulate, or do a mixture of the two, when the composition of the solutes
around them change, such as ion concentration of sodium or potassium; this can lead to disruptive
changes in protein structure. In addition, temperature can intensify the problem by changing the rates of
ion flux. Estuarine and rocky intertidal organisms because salinity and temperature are in constant
variation. In this study, we look at Carcinus maenas (invasive European green crab), Cancer
irrotatus (sub-tidal red) and Libinia emarginata (spider crab) and their ability to ion and water balance
when stressed. Two crabs from each species were placed in one of four treatments for 1.5 hours: 100%
seawater at 20oC, 100% seawater at 30oC, 50% seawater at 20oC, and 50% seawater at 30oC.
After been taken out from the acclimation tanks, 20-40 uL of hemolymph was extracted from
each crab and measured on an osmometer. All species of crabs seemed to significantly decrease
osmolarity at lower seawater percentage, whereas there appears to be no significant difference is
osmolarity levels with a change in temperature. We can therefore assume that these estuarine
crabs have developed an adaptation for temperature change, but not for change in salinity.

II. Questions
1. C. maenas is probably an osmoregulator since we can observe only a slight decrease when
water salinity changes, but doesn’t appear to be significant. The other two species are probably
osmoconformers. Even though we would expect a greater decrease in osmolarity from 100% sea
water to 50% seawater for osmoconformers, the change is osmolarity for C. irrotatus and L.
emarginata appears to be significant, and to have a greater effect than that of C. maenas.
2. L. emarginata is least able to maintain ion stability at high temperatures because, even though
it doesn’t appear to be significant, it is the only species out of the three that has a decrease in
osmolarity as temperature increases. I would have predicted all three species to have a change in
osmolarity with increase in temperature because temperature would change the rates of ion flux
between membranes.
3. Osmolarity is the number of osmoles of solute per liter of solution and therefore does not take
into account body mass. Had we been looking at osmolality then we would have to take into
account the mass of the hemolymph in the crabs, rather than measuring the number of osmoles
per liter. Also, in this experiment we were looking at the strategies used by the crabs after being
stressed by temperature and ion concentration, meaning that if there was no effect of body mass
on temperature or salinity, then the strategies being used by all three species are independent of
body size.
III. Figures

a)

1200

1000
HEMOLYMPH OSMOLARITY

800
(MOSM)

600

400

200

0
C. irrotatus C. maenas L. emarginata

b)

1200

1000
HEMOLYMPH OSMOLARITY

800
(MOSM)

600

400

200

0
C. irrotatus C. maenas L. emarginata
CRAB SPECIES

Figure 1. Effects of salinity and temperature on crab hemolymph osmolarity. Average

osmolalrity for each crab species was found as an effect of salinity (Figure A) and of temperature
(Figure B). Standard error of the mean was taken for each category. Black bars represent 100%
salinity in Figure A, 20oC in Figure B, while grey bars represent 50% salinity and 30oC. N=8 for
all species, with N=2 100% SW and 20oC, N=2 50% SW and 20oC, N=2 100% SW and 30oC,
and N=2 50% SW and 30oC for each species. Average tank salinity was 823.5 mOsm at 100%
SW at 20oC, 749.5 at 100% SW at 30oC, 520 mOsm at 50% SW at 20oC, and 560.3 mOsm at
50% SW at 30oC.