Abstract
The White Sea gastropod Hydrobia ulvae (Pennant) was exposed to step-wise lowering or increase of the habitat salinity. The time allowed for acclimatization to the successive salinity levels was sufficient to complete non-genetic adaptation. In this way, the lower and upper salinity limits were extended. The tolerance limits obtained are assumed to be indicative of the capacity for non-genetic adaptation and to serve as a genotypical characteristic. The tolerance of specimens colleced from in situ conditions (mid littoral, 20‰ S) ranged between 14 and 34‰ S. After non-genetic adaptation, the lower tolerance value shifted to 6‰ S (adaptation limit), and the upper value to 76‰ S (final limit not reached). There is no reason for considering White Sea H. ulvae to represent a special physiological race of specimens from those on the coast of Great Britain.
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Communicated by M. E. Vinogradov, Moscow
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Khlebovich, V.V., Kondratenkov, A.P. Stepwise acclimation—a method for estimating the potential euryhalinity of the gastropod Hydrobia ulvae . Marine Biology 18, 6–8 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00347914
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00347914