Article
Carbonate Deposits in Marine Fish Intestines: A New Source of Biomineralization
Limnology and Oceanography
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1-1991
Abstract
Marine teleostean fish are hypo-osmotic to seawater. As part of a multiorgan osmoregulatory strategy they drink seawater and selectively absorb water and minerals across the intestinal epithelium. Notably, divalent cations (Ca2+ and Mg2-) are left behind. We report here that in the gulf toadfish, Opsanus beta, the ionic by-products of osmoregulation in the intestine contribute to de novo formation of a carbonate mineral, tentatively identified as calcian kutnohorite. Our data suggest that intestinal mineralization is a general feature of osmoregulation in marine teleosts and that this process is an unrecognized and possibly substantial source of marine carbonate sediments.
DOI
10.4319/lo.1991.36.6.1227
Disciplines
Citation Information
Patrick J. Walsh, Patricia Blackwelder, Kenneth A. Gill, Eva Danulat, et al.. "Carbonate Deposits in Marine Fish Intestines: A New Source of Biomineralization" Limnology and Oceanography Vol. 36 Iss. 6 (1991) p. 1227 - 1232 ISSN: 0024-3590 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/patricia-blackwelder/39/
©1991, by the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Inc.