Fluid mechanosensory stimulation of behaviour from a planktonic marine copepod, Euchaeta rimana Bradford

Abstract

This research provides the first reported thresholds for the behavioural response of an individual planktonic copepod. Using a novel technique to create near-field fluid disturbances, we directed microlitre volumes of water towards the antennulary setae. In response to an increasing strength of this purely mechanical signal, the animal varied its behaviour from a rapid flick to a capture response and finally an escape reaction. This work provides a basis for addressing the criteria copepods use to interpret biologically generated signals to elicit an appropriate behavioural response and offers insight into how these signals are differentiated from the random fluid motion in their environment.