HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (20) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hadfield, M. G. Articles by Koehl, M. A. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hadfield, M. G. Articles by Koehl, M. A. R. Related Collections Larval Biology Molluscs Behavior

Rapid Behavioral Responses of an Invertebrate Larva to Dissolved Settlement Cue

¹ Kewalo Marine Laboratory, University of Hawaii, 41 Ahui St., Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
² Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3140

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hadfield{at}hawaii.edu

Larvae of the nudibranch Phestilla sibogae were used to study whether a natural dissolved settlement cue (from their prey, Porites compressa, an abundant coral on Hawaiian reefs) induces behavioral responses that can affect larval transport to suitable settlement sites. As cue and larvae are mixed in the turbulent flow over a reef, cue is distributed in fine-scale filaments that the larva experiences as rapid (seconds) on/off encounters. To examine larval responses in this setting, individual larvae were tethered in a small flume with flow simulating water velocity relative to a freely swimming larva, and their responses to realistic temporal patterns of cue encounter were videotaped. Competent larvae quickly ceased swimming in cue filaments and resumed swimming after exiting filaments. The threshold cue concentration eliciting a response was 3%–17% of concentrations within heads of P. compressa in nature. When moving freely in filtered seawater, competent larvae swam along straight paths in all directions at 0.2 cm s^–1, whereas in water conditioned by P. compressa, most ceased swimming and sank at 0.1 cm s^–1. The ability of larvae to rapidly respond (by sinking) to brief encounters with dissolved settlement cues can enhance their rapid transport to the substratum, even in wave-driven turbulent flow.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Meyer and D. T. Manahan Nutrient Uptake by Marine Invertebrates: Cloning and Functional Analysis of Amino Acid Transporter Genes in Developing Sea Urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) Biol. Bull., August 1, 2009; 217(1): 6 - 24. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Metaxas and M. Saunders Quantifying the "Bio-" Components in Biophysical Models of Larval Transport in Marine Benthic Invertebrates: Advances and Pitfalls Biol. Bull., June 1, 2009; 216(3): 257 - 272. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. C. Burgess, S. P. Hart, and D. J. Marshall Pre-Settlement Behavior in Larval Bryozoans: The Roles of Larval Age and Size Biol. Bull., June 1, 2009; 216(3): 344 - 354. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. J. Paul, K. E. Arthur, R. Ritson-Williams, C. Ross, and K. Sharp Chemical Defenses: From Compounds to Communities Biol. Bull., December 1, 2007; 213(3): 226 - 251. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Faucci, R. J Toonen, and M. G Hadfield Host shift and speciation in a coral-feeding nudibranch Proc R Soc B, January 7, 2007; 274(1606): 111 - 119. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]