Haemoglobin as a buoyancy regulator and oxygen supply in the backswimmer (Notonectidae, Anisops)

Unlike all other diving insects, backswimmers of the genus Anisops can exploit the pelagic zone by temporarily achieving near-neutral buoyancy during the course of a dive. They begin a dive positively buoyant due to the large volume of air carried in their ventral air-stores, but rapidly enter a protracted period of near-neutral buoyancy before becoming negatively buoyant. This dive profile is due to haemoglobin found in large tracheated cells in the abdomen. Fibre optic oxygen probes placed in the air-stores of submerged bugs revealed that oxygen partial pressure (P(O2)) dropped in a sigmoid curve, where a linear decline preceded a plateau between 5.1 and 2.0 kPa, before a final drop. Buoyancy measurements made by attaching backswimmers to a sensitive electronic balance showed the same three phases. Inactivating the haemoglobin by fumigating backswimmers with 15% CO eliminated both buoyancy and P(O2) plateaus. Oxygen unloaded from the haemoglobin stabilises the air-store during the neutrally buoyant phase after a decrease in volume of between 16% and 19%. Using measurements of air-store P(O2) and volume, it was calculated that during a dive the haemoglobin and air-store contribute 0.25 and 0.26 mu l of oxygen, respectively.