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Statocysts and Statocyst Control of Motor Pathways in Crayfish and Crabs

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Crustacean Experimental Systems in Neurobiology

Abstract

Statocysts are the organs of balance or equilibrium in crustacea. They have many structural features analogous with balance organs in vertebrate and Hensen (1863) considered them to have a hearing role and called them otocysts. Their function was first elucidated in crustacea with Delage (1887) showing that elimination of otocysts in Mysis and several other decapods caused “desorientation locomotrice” Kreidl's iron filings experiment showed the equilibrium role more convincingly (Kreidl 1893). He introduced iron filings into the otocyst ofPalaemonetesin place of the normal sand grains during the moult (Prentiss 1901; Kinzig 1919; Panning 1924) and found he could influence the position of the prawn in space, with a magnet. He concluded that the otocyst had an equilibrium function and renamed it statocyst.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoology Department, Aberdeen University, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK

    Peter J. Fraser

  2. Division of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Peter Masakazu Takahata

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  1. Peter J. Fraser
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  2. Peter Masakazu Takahata
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Zoology and Museum Neurophysiology, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, Hamburg, 20146, Germany

    Konrad Wiese

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© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Fraser, P.J., Takahata, P.M. (2002). Statocysts and Statocyst Control of Motor Pathways in Crayfish and Crabs. In: Wiese, K. (eds) Crustacean Experimental Systems in Neurobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-56092-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-56092-7_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-62860-3

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