Oesophageal chemoreceptors of blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus, sense chemical deterrents and can block ingestion of food.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Decapod crustaceans such as blue crabs possess a variety of chemoreceptors that control different stages of the feeding process. All these chemoreceptors are putative targets for feeding deterrents that cause animals to avoid or reject otherwise palatable food. As a first step towards characterizing the chemoreceptors that mediate the effect of deterrents, we used a behavioral approach to investigate their precise location. Data presented here demonstrate that chemoreceptors located on the antennules, pereiopods and mouthparts do not mediate the food-rejection effects of a variety of deterrents, both natural and artificial to crabs. Crabs always searched for deterrent-laced food and took it to their oral region. The deterrent effect was manifested as either rejection or extensive manipulation, but in both cases crabs bit the food. The biting behavior is relevant because the introduction of food into the oral cavity ensured that the deterrents gained access to the oesophageal taste receptors, and so we conclude that they are the ones mediating rejection. Additional support comes from the fact that a variety of deterrent compounds evoked oesophageal dilatation, which is mediated by oesophageal receptors and has been linked to food rejection. Further, there is a positive correlation between a compound's ability to elicit rejection and its ability to evoke oesophageal dilatation. The fact that deterrents do not act at a distance is in accordance with the limited solubility of most known feeding deterrents, and likely influences predator-prey interactions and their outcome: prey organisms will be attacked and bitten before deterrents become relevant.
منابع مشابه
Risk of handling as a route of exposure to infectious waterborne Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts via Atlantic blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus).
Commercial Atlantic blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) were exposed to 2.0x10(4) infectious waterborne oocysts of Cryptosporidium parvum. The study demonstrated that blue crabs can transfer C. parvum oocysts to persons involved in handling or preparing crabs and that they may contaminate other surfaces or products during storage.
متن کاملThe importance of color in mate choice of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus.
Visual displays often play a large role in animal communication, particularly in sexual interactions. The blue crab Callinectes sapidus is both colorful and highly visually responsive, yet almost all studies of their courtship have focused on chemical cues. In the blue crab's underwater environment, however, visual cues may function more rapidly and over a longer distance than chemical cues. Gi...
متن کاملBehavioral observations and computer simulations of blue crab movement to a chemical source in a controlled turbulent flow.
The behavior of crabs tracking odor in turbulent chemical plumes was compared to the performance of computer simulations of search behavior operating in similar chemical signal environments. The movement of blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) towards a source of food odor was studied in controlled flow conditions in a flume. The evolving chemical stimulus field of a similar chemical source in an e...
متن کاملThe Influence of Diet Composition on Fitness of the Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus
The physiological condition and fecundity of an organism is frequently controlled by diet. As changes in environmental conditions often cause organisms to alter their foraging behavior, a comprehensive understanding of how diet influences the fitness of an individual is central to predicting the effect of environmental change on population dynamics. We experimentally manipulated the diet of the...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- The Journal of experimental biology
دوره 215 Pt 10 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2012