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Swimming behavior of the marine copepodOithona davisae: internal control and search for environment

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Abstract

The swimming behavior of the marine cyclopoid copepodOithona davisae Ferrari and Orsi, collected in Tokyo Bay, Japan, between 1980 and 1983, was studied after acclimation to various food concentrations. Males and females exhibited forward and circular swimming movements. Males search mainly for mates, not for food. Their circular swimming behavior may serve for the mate search. The spiraling movement during mate-pursuit is peculiar to males. Circular swimming in females may function as a spontaneous search behavior for rich food areas and less crowded conditions. Females acclimated to a low food concentration, with net production about zero, responded sensitively to the increased food concentration by decreasing their swimming distance per unit time. Females acclimated to higher levels also responded similarly, but less sensitively. On the other hand, females kept without food exhibited no changes in swimming behavior and exhibited a stereotyped behavior at every food level. Females, when exposed to a low food level, may prefer to search for richer areas rather than capture food. The combined effect of the degree of internal activity (DIA) and the intensity of external stimulus (IES) determines the behavior pattern ofO. davisae. The behavioral response to IES depends on DIA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, 113, Tokyo, Japan

    M. Uchima & R. Hirano

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  1. M. Uchima
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  2. R. Hirano
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Communicated by M. Anraku, Tokyo

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Uchima, M., Hirano, R. Swimming behavior of the marine copepodOithona davisae: internal control and search for environment. Mar. Biol. 99, 47–56 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00644976

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