Measurements of metabolic rate, osmotic pressure and blood volume of pycnogonids from Antarctica

Several individuals of several species of pycnogonids (sea spiders) were obtained from the aquarium at McMurdo Station. Measurements of metabolic rate, osmotic pressure and blood volume was determined from individuals. Some species are fastidious cleaners while others are not and thus have marine algae growing on the exoskeleton. This proved to a be a problem as the respiratory rate or photosynthetic rate of this algae was great enough to affect the readings from the pycnogonids.