Crustacean chemical communication

Stanhope, M.J., Connelly, M.M., and Hartwick, B., Evolution of a crustacean chemical communication channel behavioral and ecological genetic evidence for a habitat-modified, race-specific pheromone, J. Chem. Ecol., 18, 1871, 1992. 

Fig. 1.4 Examples of crustacean species (in their natural environment) that are suited as models to address particular questions on crustacean chemical communication, (a) Crayfish Austropota-mobius torrentium (photograph courtesy of Dr. Michael van der Wall) (b) water flea Daphnia pulex (photograph courtesy of Linda C. Weiss) (c) amphipod Hyalella costera (d) freshwater shrimp Cryphiops caementarius (photographs (c, d) courtesy of Ivan A. Hinojosa)...

The past two decades have seen enormous advances in our understanding of crustacean chemical communication. Nevertheless, our knowledge is still in its infancy when compared to insects, fish, or mammals. Most research on crustacean behavior in response to chemical stimuli has been conducted in controlled laboratory environments, where often only one stimulus context is tested. For example, the responses of numerous crustacean species to chemicals emitted by potential mates, by conspecific aggressors, or by interspecific enemies have been tested in... 

As you will see in the rest of this book there is already an impressive understanding of crustacean chemical communication - but really we are just at the beginning of the exploration. In the coming years, as demonstrated in the chapters... 

Table 16.2 Possible mechanisms of deception in crustacean chemical communication Context Kind of deceit Mechanism Possible examples...

Deception in crustacean chemical communication has not yet been detected. This mode of communication may most often involve the transfer of cues that are byproducts of essential biochemical processes and that cannot be faked. Yet, we see no reason, based on first principals, why deception via the withholding and directed release of such cues should be rare. But we also acknowledge that detecting such deception will be very difficult. Techniques to monitor and visualize the production and release of chemicals by senders and the detection of and responses to them by receivers under both seminatural and experimental conditions have just begun to be used to study signaling in aggressive contexts in lobsters and crayfish. 

In order to make this volume accessible to a broad audience that spans scientific and applied fields, we asked the authors to include a personal statement briefly describing why they entered their respective research fields. Such statements are not generally accepted in scientific writing. But we are most grateful that many of our authors adopted a more informal style and expressed their enthusiasm for their particular study species or research questions. We hope that our authors enthusiasm is sufficiently infectious and that the scientific questions they raise in their contributions will stimulate future research. If only a few young scholars are infected by this excitement for crustacean chemical communication, this book has achieved its goal. 

Chemical Communication in Crustaceans Research Challenges for the Twenty-First Century... 

Fig. 1.1 Phylogeny of crustaceans, highlighting in bold the taxa that have been subject to research on chemical communication. Only those subtaxa of Malacostraca and Decapoda are shown that have been subject to chemical communication research. Phylogeny was modified after Tree of life (http //tolweb.org/Crustacea), and Dixon et al. (2003)...

Chemical Communication in Crustaceans - A Brief Literature Survey... 

In crustaceans, communication is mainly through the visual, chemical, and mechanical channels (see e.g., Mead and Caldwell, Chap. 11 Christy and Rittschof, Chap. 16 Clayton 2008). Whereas visual communication is mainly limited to species from terrestrial and clear-water environments, chemical communication can occur under most environmental conditions. Not surprisingly, studies on chemical communication dominate the literature. Of a total of 76 publications on crustacean communication (with the keywords communicat and Crustacea ) published between 1990 and 2010, 43 were on chemical communication, 24 on visual communication, and only 9 on mechanical/acoustic communication (Web of Science 2010). 

Variations in sex-specific population densities, e.g., due to extraction by fisheries, may also affect the dynamics of chemical communication in crustaceans (e.g., van Son and Thiel 2007). At low population densities, members from the mate-attracting sex may have to invest more in chemical advertisement than at high densities. On the other hand, individuals from the mate-searching sex that are efficient and rapid in responding to chemical signals may be at an advantage at low population densities. 

Many of the contributions in this book are concerned with pheromones, i.e., chemical stimuli that are employed by crustaceans to attract conspecifics. However, chemical communication also includes substances that are used to repel other organisms. These repellents could be especially useful in the aquaculture context, e.g., to repel parasites or fouling organisms. Many crustaceans are parasites of commercially important fish species (e.g., salmon) and both traps and repellents could be used in controlling infection levels (e.g., Mordue and Birkett 2009). Similarly, barnacles are abundant fouling organisms in suspended structures or seawater systems and developing techniques to suppress their recruitment is one of the main motivations behind the identification of settlement factors (Clare, Chap. 22). 

The major challenge ahead of us is the chemical identification of crustacean pheromones. We consider that this is the most crucial step because it not only will help us to understand the role of these pheromones in speciation processes, but will also permit a whole suite of experimental approaches. Insect biologists have utilized synthetically produced pheromones in experimental studies for several decades now (see Baker, Chap. 27). Once the first crustacean pheromone is synthetically produced, we expect a boost of research activities on chemical communication in crustaceans. 

Atema J, Steinbach MA (2007) Chemical communication and social behavior of the lobster Homarus americanus and other decapod Crustacea. In Duffy JE, Thiel M (eds) Evolutionary ecology of social and sexual systems - crustaceans as model organisms. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 115-144... 

The Promise of Crustaceans as Model Systems for Chemical Communication Research... 

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