Abstract
Stage I zoea larvae of Panopeus herbstii were tested for their orientations while swimming in a glass chamber and exposed to either polarized or unpolarized light. The larvae assumed a primarily vertical orientation of the dorsal spine (body axis horizontal) under all experimental conditions. Sensitivity to polarized light was demonstrated when larvae exposed to a polarization plane tilted off the horizontal shifted their orientations in the direction of the e-vector tilt. In addition, more of the larvae exposed to a horizontal e-vector were oriented to within a few degrees about the vertical direction, and they were less variable in their orientations than the populations of larvae exposed to unpolarized light. The possible ecological implications of such behavior are discussed.
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Communicated by M.R. Tripp, Newark
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Bardolph, M., Stavn, R.H. Polarized light sensitivity in the stage I zoea of the mud crab Panopeus herbstii . Mar. Biol. 46, 327–333 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391404
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391404