Hydrodynamic, non-photic modulation of biorhythms in the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus (L.)

Abstract

Data on biological rhythms of the Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus (L.) are compared with new findings on inertial currents, a non-photic geophysical hydrodynamic fluctuation. Laboratory experiments on animal endogenous cardiac activity and locomotor rhythms using individuals from the middle slope (400–600 m depth) of the Mediterranean Sea revealed a consistent proportion of ultradian 18-h animals (20.6% and 12.0% of the studied cases for cardiac and locomotor tests, respectively). This characteristic, not reported in similar experiments with individuals from shallower depths (20–200 m) in the Atlantic Ocean, was initially considered meaningless from an ecological point of view. However, a close comparison with in situ oceanographic measurements over 1 year revealed a clear relationship between inertial current fluctuations and the observed 18-h behavioural and physiological rhythms. We propose a novel scenario involving potential non-photic (i.e. hydrodynamic) modulation of Nephrops biorhythms, and suggest that this may provide a paradigm for other benthic species in deep-water areas.