. The Biological bulletin. Biology; Zoology; Biology; Marine Biology. 224 REPORTS FROM THE MBL GENERAL SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS Reference: Bi«l. Bull. 203: 224-225. (October 20021 Visual Behavior of Juvenile Limulus in Their Natural Habitat and in Captivity C. Ridings1, D. Borst2, K. Smith3, F. Dodge4, anil R. Barlow4 (Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543} Limulus pohphemus, the common horseshoe crab, inhabits coastal estuaries of North America and the Yucatan peninsula. It has been an admirable model for vision research because its relatively simple visual system has marke
. The Biological bulletin. Biology; Zoology; Biology; Marine Biology. 224 REPORTS FROM THE MBL GENERAL SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS Reference: Bi«l. Bull. 203: 224-225. (October 20021 Visual Behavior of Juvenile Limulus in Their Natural Habitat and in Captivity C. Ridings1, D. Borst2, K. Smith3, F. Dodge4, anil R. Barlow4 (Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543} Limulus pohphemus, the common horseshoe crab, inhabits coastal estuaries of North America and the Yucatan peninsula. It has been an admirable model for vision research because its relatively simple visual system has marked functional similarities to those of many species, including humans (1). Adult male horseshoe crabs use their lateral eyes to find mates (2), and their ability to see underwater has been studied in the estuaries where mating occurs (3. 4, 5). However, studies of the visually guided behavior of adults in captivity have not been successful ( pers. obs.). On the other hand, juvenile horseshoe crabs do exhibit visually guided behavior under laboratory conditions (6). Here we report a comprehensive investigation into the visually guided behavior of juveniles, both in their natural habitat and in captivity. Between May 15 and June 30. 2002, we studied the behavior of juvenile specimens of Limulus in Nantucket Sound, along the Western shore of the North Monomoy Island Refuge in Chatham, Massachusetts. The sand bars on the tidal flats of the island are a protected natural habitat for both juveniles and adults; the waters are relatively clear and calm. Juveniles were most active near shore at depths ranging from 30-120 cm, usually during the late after- noon and evening. In testing the visually guided behavior of a juvenile horseshoe crab, we followed the procedure of a previous study of such behavior in adults (4). First we determined its direction of travel along the bottom and then placed a small object directly in front of it at a distance of 20-40 cm. We used three cylindric
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Keywords: ., bookauthorlilliefrankrat, booksubjectbiology, booksubjectzoology
