Sound reception in crabs: Keeping an ear to the wind and a leg to the ground

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Sound reception in crabs: Keeping an ear to the wind and a leg to the ground Micah J. Waltz1* and Jim H. Belanger1, 2 1 West Virginia University, Dept of Physiology and Pharmacology, United States 2 West Virginia University, Dept. of Biology, United States Acoustic information from the environment can exist in two different forms: medium-borne pressure waves in air or water, or vibrations traveling through a solid substrate such as rock or earth. Many animals have specialized sensors for detecting this kind of information, and using it to direct behavior. For example, some land crabs use acoustic information in mating behaviors and startle responses. They have sensors that are thought to respond to sound waves (Barth’s myochordotonal organs on the walking legs) and other sensors that are thought to respond to substrate vibration (campaniform sensillae on the dactyls). We are interested in the differing sensory capabilities of these organs, and in particular the ways that sound and vibration stimuli may be combined for behavioral decisions. As a first step in this study, we are analyzing the response characteristics of the sensors to different types of stimuli. In fiddler crabs (Uca pugnax),airborne stimulation of the membrane overlying Barth’s myochordotonal organ produces much larger responses (higher frequency and greater diversity of action potentials) than tactile stimulation of the membrane. In contrast, only tactile stimulation of the campaniform sensillae produces any response. . This suggests that the two types of organs are responding to different aspects of sound, allowing crabs to construct a fuller picture of the environment. Keywords: acoustic, crustacean, Hearing, Sound, vibrations Conference: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology, College Park. Maryland USA, United States, 5 Aug - 10 Aug, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster (but consider for student poster award) Topic: Sensory: Audition Citation: Waltz MJ and Belanger JH (2012). Sound reception in crabs: Keeping an ear to the wind and a leg to the ground. Conference Abstract: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnbeh.2012.27.00343 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 30 Apr 2012; Published Online: 07 Jul 2012. * Correspondence: Mr. Micah J Waltz, West Virginia University, Dept of Physiology and Pharmacology, Morgantown, WV, 26505, United States, mwaltz@hsc.wvu.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Micah J Waltz Jim H Belanger Google Micah J Waltz Jim H Belanger Google Scholar Micah J Waltz Jim H Belanger PubMed Micah J Waltz Jim H Belanger Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.