Abstract
An experimental system is described that is capable of maintaining precise and stable thermoclines of specified magnitude for laboratory study of behavior of planktonic organisms. Behavioral responses to encounters with thermoclines of various magnitudes were measured in stage I larvae of the portunid crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun. Larvae adapted to an initial temperature of 15°C were able to swim up through a temperature gradient of 10°C, but showed increasing inhibition of upward migration when Δt=12.5°C. Larvae adapted to 17.5°C were unable to penetrate Δt=10°C. Thermoclines of 5° or 10°C slowed passive sinking rates. Results suggest that larvae avoid an upper temperature of 27.5°C by a cessation of swimming, accompanied by passive sinking. Thermal gradients of the magnitude present in the natural habitat are unlikely to alter larval vertical migration that is regulated by other exogenous stimuli. Naturally occurring thermoclines should seldom influence dispersal characteristics of C. sapidus larvae.
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Communicated by S. K. Pierce, College Park
Contribution No. 1535 of the Center for Environmental and Estuarine Studies, University of Maryland
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McConnaughey, R.A., Sulkin, S.D. Measuring the effects of thermoclines on the vertical migration of larvae of Callinectes sapidus (Brachyura: Portunidae) in the laboratory. Mar. Biol. 81, 139–145 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393112
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393112