The oxygen consumption of some freshwater molluscs from lake Biwa-ko was studied in relation to the weight of animals and water temperatures.
In all the species the oxygen consumption was found to vary with soft body weight according to the power law, the relation in expressed by the formula 02=Kwb, where 02 is the oxygen consumption, w is the soft body weight, and K, b are the constants. The values of the slope (b) were 0.36-0.47 in Corbicula sandai, 0.44-0.82 in Unio biwae and 0.31-0.71 in Hyriopsis schlegelii. It was also demonstrated that oxygen consumption rate varied in pro-portion to body surface in Heterogen longispira (Table 1 and Fig. 1).
The Q10 of respiration was nearly 1.3 at 8-16°C, and 2-3 at 16-28°C in all mussels examined. But in Heterogen longispira, the Q10 of respiration was nearly 2 at 8-28°C (Table 2).