Effects of repeated sampling on the haemocytes and haemolymph of Eledone cirrhosa (Lam.)

Sampling blood has an effect on both the number of circulating haemocytes a nd the concentration of copper present in the haemolymph of Eledone cirrhos a. Haemocytes were sampled over 4 h and over 7, 10 and 24 days. The number of haemocytes per millilitre significantly increases (P < 0.05 within 2 h o f the 4-h sample period and within 24 h of the 7-, 10- and 24-day sampling periods. Haemocyte counts. however, significantly (P < 0.05) decreased with in 4 h of the 4-h sample and within 3 days of the 7- and 10-day sampling pe riods. Over the 24-day sampling periods, haemocyte counts per millilitre de creased significantly (P < 0.05) by day 5 but hail significantly (P < 0.05) increased again by day 17. The percentage of haemocytes with Giemsa-positi ve cytoplasmic granules significantly increased (P < 0.05) over the 4-h sam pling period and over 24 h for both the 10- and 24-day sampling period. Met hods for acid phosphatase, peroxidase, protein and carbohydrate gave variab le staining results over 10 and 24 days. Increased staining was observed on the second and third sampling times for both protein and acid phosphatase over the 10-day sampling period whereas increased positive results were obs erved for all stains over the 24-day sampling period. The concentration of copper in the haemolymph decreases within 4 h of the 4-h sampling period an d continues to decrease over an 11-day sampling period. Protein values decr eased over the 4-h sampling period but showed no significant change between the first and last samples over 7 days. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.