Venom on ice: First insights into Antarctic octopus venoms

The venom of Antarctic octopus remains completely unstudied. Here, a preliminary investigation was conducted into the properties of posterior salivary gland (PSG) extracts from four Antarctica eledonine (Incirrata; Octopodidae) species (Adelieledone polymorpha, Megaleledone setebos, Pareledone aequi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Toxicon
Main Authors: Undheim E.A.B., Georgieva D.N., Thoen H.H., Norman J.A., Mork J., Betzel C., Fry B.G.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Pergamon 2010
Subjects:
Adaptation
Antarctic
Enzyme
Octopoda
Venom
Antarc*
Antarctic Octopus
Antarctica
Megaleledone Setebos
Online Access:https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:310933
Description
Summary:The venom of Antarctic octopus remains completely unstudied. Here, a preliminary investigation was conducted into the properties of posterior salivary gland (PSG) extracts from four Antarctica eledonine (Incirrata; Octopodidae) species (Adelieledone polymorpha, Megaleledone setebos, Pareledone aequipapillae, and Pareledone turqueti) collected from the coast off George V's Land, Antarctica. Specimens were assayed for alkaline phosphatase (ALP), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), proteolytic, phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)), and haemolytic activities. For comparison, stomach tissue from Cirroctopus sp. (Cirrata; Cirroctopodidae) was also assayed for ALP, AChE, proteolytic and haemolytic activities. Dietary and morphological data were collected from the literature to explore the ecological importance of venom, taking an adaptive evolutionary approach.

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