Biol. Bull. Sign up for etocs!
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Jury, S. H.
Right arrow Articles by Watson, W. H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Jury, S. H.
Right arrow Articles by Watson, W. H., 3rd

The Biological Bulletin, Vol 199, Issue 3 257-264, Copyright © 2000 by Marine Biological Laboratory

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Thermosensitivity of the lobster, Homarus americanus, as determined by cardiac assay

SH Jury and WH Watson 3rd
Zoology Department and Center for Marine Biology, University of New Hampshire, Durham 03824, USA. sjury@cmrc.org

It is generally accepted that crustaceans detect, and respond to, changes in water temperature, yet few studies have directly addressed their thermosensitivity. In this investigation a cardiac assay was used as an indicator that lobsters (Homarus americanus) sensed a change in temperature. The typical cardiac response of lobsters to a 1-min application of a thermal stimulus, either warmer (n = 19) or colder (n = 17) than the holding temperature of 15 degrees C, consisted of a short bradycardia (39.5 +/- 8.0 s) followed by a prolonged tachycardia (188.2 +/- 10.7 s). Lobsters exposed to a range of rates of temperature change (0.7, 1.4, 2.6, 5.0 degrees C/min) responded in a dose-dependent manner, with fewer lobsters responding at slower rates of temperature change. The location of temperature receptors could not be determined, but lesioning of the cardioregulatory nerves eliminated the cardiac response. Although the absolute detection threshold is not known, it is conservatively estimated that lobsters can detect temperature changes of greater than 1 degree C, and probably as small as 0.15 degrees C. A comparison of winter and summer lobsters, both held at 15 degrees C for more than 4 weeks, revealed that although their responses to temperature changes were similar, winter lobsters (n = 18) had a significantly lower baseline heart rate (34.8 +/- 4.4 bpm) and a shorter duration cardiac response (174 s) than summer lobsters (n = 18; 49.9 +/- 5.0 bpm, and 320 s respectively). This suggests that some temperature-independent seasonal modulation of cardiac activity may be occurring.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
J. L. Hamilton, C. R. Edwards, S. R. Holt, and M. K. Worden
Temperature dependent modulation of lobster neuromuscular properties by serotonin
J. Exp. Biol., March 15, 2007; 210(6): 1025 - 1035.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
M. K. Worden, C. M. Clark, M. Conaway, and S. A. Qadri
Temperature dependence of cardiac performance in the lobster Homarus americanus
J. Exp. Biol., March 15, 2006; 209(6): 1024 - 1034.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Biol. Bull.Home page
I. J. Mcgaw
Behavioral Thermoregulation in Hemigrapsus nudus, the Amphibious Purple Shore Crab
Biol. Bull., February 1, 2003; 204(1): 38 - 49.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Biol. Bull.Home page
C. G. Dufort, S. H. Jury, J. M. Newcomb, D. F. O'Grady III, and W. H. Watson III
Detection of Salinity by the Lobster, Homarus americanus
Biol. Bull., December 1, 2001; 201(3): 424 - 434.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2000 by the Marine Biological Laboratory.