Abstract
Female copepods of the species Centropages hamatus exposed to 80-ppb South Louisiana crude oil in seawater show alterations in their swimming activity, as expressed by the duration of pause intervals during swimming, mean swimming speed, and allocation of time to active food search. Behavioral patterns of oil-exposed copepods returned to patterns shown by control individuals after only 30 min of depuration in uncontaminated seawater. The results indicate that sublethal concentrations of hydrocarbons interfere with mechanisms of food perception in copepods, as in decapod Crustacea, either via blockage of receptors or via narcotization of the copepod's nervous system.
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Communicated by S. K. Pierce, College Park
Contribution No. 5362 of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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Cowles, T.J. Effects of exposure to sublethal concentrations of crude oil on the copepod Centropages hamatus . Mar. Biol. 78, 53–57 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00392971
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00392971