title: Free amino acid composition in hemolymph and muscle of the ghost crab, Ocypode platytarsis.
abstract: Free amino acid plays an important role in physiological functions. The ghost crab, Ocypode platytarsis caught off the Puducherry sandy beaches, south east coast of India were investigated for the pattern of distribution of free amino acids. The hemolymph and muscle were sampled from male and female crabs and then subjected to free amino acid analysis quantitatively by HPLC. Fourteen free amino acids have been determined in hemolymph and muscle of both sexes in Ocypode platytarsis. The essential amino acids were leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, valine and histidine and non-essential amino acids were alanine, arginine, glutamic acid, glycine, serine and tyrosine. The total concentration of free amino acid found in the male and female hemolymph was lower than that in the muscle. Glutamic acid is of higher concentration in the hemolymph whereas histidine found was higher in the muscle of both sexes. The male crab contains a strikingly higher concentration of histidine of about eight times than that of female in muscles. The study revealed that distribution pattern of free amino acids differ in relation to hemolymph and muscle of male and female crabs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, 605 014 Puducherry, India.
authors.forename: R Siva
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Sankar
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yogamoorthi
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003445:Crustacea; D005260:Female; D006458:Hemolymph / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D009132:Muscles / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids