-T-

of the isotope.

In the converse situation where the ecological

half life is less than’ the physical half life, a net loss of the
4sotope is indicated.

This condition coyld result from loss of

the isotope by the environment,

or eco-system,

or from a physio-

logical change in the organism or its primary food source.

Such

physiological changes may be transitory or seasonal.
The increase in radioactivity over preshot levels during
the first few days after the Nectar test was less in muscle and
carapace than in the four other tissues by a factor of 5 to 10.

Max imum post-Nectar levels of activity were 100 to 250 times
greater than pre-Nectar levels in gut, liver, and gill, but only
respectively.

22 and 26 times greater in muscle and carapace

The lower rate of accumulation in muscle and

carapace would be

expected since the material must be absorbed from the
hepatopancreas where some selection takes. place.

gut and

The specific

patterns of changing radioactive content of the tissues with.time,
rate of decline, will be presented individually for each tissue.

The amounts of radioisotopes involved are so small that they
probably do not constitute a significant proportion of the natu-

rally occurring isotopes.

If, for example, a tissue contained

107 a/m/g wet of Sr929, or 5,000 times the maximum level found in
the hermit crab,

this would represent only 0.02 mg of strontium,

or about 1079 per cent of the ash weight.

The

presence of

Strontium has been reported qualitatively in crustacea and a

quantitative estimate of about one per cent strontium has been
given for the ash of Eupagurus bernhardus.?°

Select target paragraph3