Calcium Level of Each Part in Sea Urchin

Abstract

To study the calcification of sea urchin, calcium level of each part (coelomic fluid, gut, gonad, lantern, tooth and test) was examined in Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus.
Calcium level of coelomic fluid (0.54mg/ml) was higher than sea water (0.41mg/ml) by about 30%. Test, lantern and tooth, which were calcified tissues, showed much higher level than gut and gonad. Relative content of calcium of calcified tissues was about 99.8% to the whole body. In the test, the highest level of calcium was observed in the area between the anus and the equator (339.8mg/g). Second highest areas were observed around the anus (298.0mg/g) and along teh equator (283.3mg/g), and the lowest area was found around the mouth (214.4mg/g), showing that calcium levels of the test varied with the different areas.