TRANSEPITHELIAL MOVEMENT OF CALCIUM IN CRUSTACEANS

The regulation of calcium in most crustaceans is especially challengin g owing to the highly mineralized cuticle that must be recalcified aft er each moult, a process that often occurs in environments with low co ncentrations of calcium. The gill and carapace epithelia separate the major calcium-containing compartments of the body and therefore see la rge changes in the rate of calcium flux through the moult cycle. Large changes in the ultrastructure of these cells do not, however, correla te well with the periods of calcium movement and probably reflect othe r physiological events. Despite the challenges to regulating calcium l evels at various acclimation salinities and moult stages, the calcium concentration in the blood is maintained relatively constant. There is a rapid increase to a high rate of calcium flux across both the gill and carapace epithelium shortly after the moult; on an area-specific b asis these fluxes are among the highest reported for calcium-transport ing epithelia. When in water with a very low concentration of calcium, the electrochemical gradient for calcium is directed outwards and net influx must occur by active transport. Evidence suggests that changes in the electrochemical gradient, permeability and active transport ar e all important in the ability of crustaceans to take up calcium from water with a low concentration of this ion. Although an enzyme transpo rter is presumably involved in the active transport of calcium across epithelia, very little is known about the cellular mechanism of the tr ansepithelial movement of calcium in crustaceans.