Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 May 2009
Echinoderms are not generally considered to experience significant dilution of the surrounding medium in their usual marine habitats and so it is to be expected that, due to the absence of any obvious excretory organ, the ionic composition of the body fluid would be similar to that of the ambient sea water. In general this has been confirmed by previous workers for many species of echinoderm. Binyon (1966) lists the results of workers who have determined osmotic pressure and/or ionic concentrations in the perivisceral and/or ambulacral fluids of many echinoderms. With reference to the perivisceral fluid in asteroids there is usually a small excess of potassium (9–16%) which is maintained in the more euryhaline species and in those acclimatized to reduced salinity. Generally, the chloride content is similar to, or a little higher than, that in the surrounding sea water. In echinoids there is little difference in the potassium content and chloride concentrations with respect to sea water though there may be a small increase in the former ion. In the holothurians, there is little regulation of potassium ions. Such concentrations which have been determined for the chloride ion in this group are found to be a little higher than in sea water. The sodium concentration in the perivisceral fluids of echinoderms tends to be similar to, or slightly lower than, that in the surrounding sea water. However in the ambulacral fluids of the water vascular system it has been shown that the potassium concentration is 20–90% higher in some species of asteroids and echinoids (Robertson, 1949; Binyon, 1962,1966). The fluids of the water vascular system of echinoderms, analysed to date, have concentrations of sodium ions lower than in the ambient sea water. From the available evidence, there appears to be little difference between environmental and ambulacral chloride concentrations.