Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS23 In Transition: Biomechanics of Sensory Perception (Disciplinary Connections)

Date: Thursday, February 15, 2001, Time: 10:30:00 AM

Location: Acoma/Zuni/Tesuque

Buskey, E, J, The University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, TX, USA, buskey@utmsi.utexas.edu

Lenz, P, H, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA, petra@pbrc.hawaii.edu

Hartline, D, K, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA, danh@pbrc.hawaii.edu

Clarke, R, D, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, USA, rclarke@mail.slc.edu

Waggett, R, J, University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, TX, USA, waggett@utmsi.utexas.edu

ESCAPE BEHAVIOR OF PLANKTONIC COPEPODS TO HYDRODYNAMIC DISTURBANCES: HIGH SPEED VIDEO ANALYSIS

Planktonic copepods exhibit rapid escape behavior in response to hydrodynamic disturbances. Small disturbances of brief duration were produced by a piezoelectric transducer moving a small cylinder. The escape responses of free-swimming adult males and females of the copepods Acartia tonsa and Acartia lilljeborgii were recorded using high speed video and quantified using computerized motion analysis techniques. Swimming speed, acceleration and turning rate before and during escape behavior were measured. Acartia spp. typically respond within 4 ms to a hydrodynamic disturbance, with multiple power strokes of the swimming legs. Each stroke is of ca. 10 ms duration with maximum speeds often exceeding 500 mm/s and minimum speeds between stokes rarely falling below 100 mm/s. Acceleration during initial escape usually exceeds 100 m/s2. Escapes sometimes begin with rapid reorientation, with maximum turning rates of about 50,000 deg/s. To confirm the adaptive value of these escape responses, high speed video analyses were also performed on predator-prey interactions between planktivorous fish and copepods. Hydrodynamically stealthy approaches by fish lead to higher capture success.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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