Abstract |
The roles of copepod sensory systems in the recognition of food were investigated using the 'Bugwatcher', a video-computer system designed to track and describe quantitatively the swimming patterns of aquatic organisms. Copepods acclimated, or non-acclimated to a chemosensory stimulus (filtered phytoplankton exudate) were exposed to combinations of this stimulus with a mechanosensory stimulus (plastic spheres), and also to a non-food chemosensory stimulus (morpholine). Analysis of swimming patterns indicates that both chemoreception and mechanoreception contribute to the recognition of food. (Copyright (c) Marine Biology 79, 165-175 (1984).) |