Abstract
URINE, collected from the nephridial bladders of the common Indian cattle leech, Hirudinaria granulosa (Savigny), and analysed by the Conway's microdiffusion technique1, was found to contain 28.3–48.1 µg of ammonia nitrogen (mean 35.8) ; 12.9–34.9 µg of urea nitrogen (mean 21.6) ; 180–897 µg of total nitrogen (mean 484.2) ; and 45.8–228.7 µg of non-protein nitrogen (mean 126.6) per ml. Supernatant fluid of the centrifugated (4,000 r.p.m.) urine contained 30.6–55.6 µg of ammonia nitrogen (mean 44.9) ; 10.5–15.9 µg of urea nitrogen (mean 13.3) ; and 99.9–276.0 µg of total nitrogen (mean 177.6) per ml. 8–69 per cent of the total nitrogen present in the urine was found to be due to bacterial growth in it. Deproteinized urine, analysed chromatographically, contained approximately 50–60 µg of amino-acid nitrogen per ml. On an average 31.8 per cent of the total non-protein nitrogen is thus excreted by the leeches in the form of ammonia nitrogen, 13.7 per cent in the form of urea nitrogen, the rest of the non-protein nitrogen being mainly due to amino-acids.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Conway, E. J., Microdiffusion Analysis and Volumetric Error, 465 (Crosby Lockwood, London, 1957).
Baldwin, E., and Bell, D. J., Cole's Practical Physiological Chemistry, 261 (W. Heffer, Cambridge, 1955).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
DEV, B. Excretion and Osmoregulation in the Leech, Hirudinaria granulosa (Savigny). Nature 202, 414 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/202414b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/202414b0
This article is cited by
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.