Interestingly there was a transient increase in PO2 when the starfish were exposed to 5 °C air, the decrease in body temperature could have slowed metabolism reducing tissue oxygen demand, while the lower temperature would lead to an increase the solubility of oxygen in the coelomic fluid. The fact that the animals were able to maintain and/or modulate oxygen consumption rates in air, suggests for this, as in other intertidal species, little anaerobic respiration takes place