Summary
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1.
In the crab, Ocypode macrocera, the effects of temperature on chromatic adaptation and responses of chromatophores to chromatophorotropins were determined.
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2.
The pigments in the black and red chromatophores of intact Ocypode concentrated at high temperatures. The pigments in the black and white chromatophores dispersed at low temperatures. At temperatures between 22 and 28° C the crabs were able to achieve maximal chromatic adaptation to a given background.
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3.
The temperatures, 15, 22 and 28° C had no direct effect on the chromatophores of eyestalkless Ocypode macrocera. However, when identical doses of an eyestalk extract were injected into eyestalkless crabs maintained at the three different temperatures the responses of the chromatophores varied with the temperatures at which the assay animals had been maintained.
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4.
The integrated response of the black and white chromatophores to the injected eyestalk extract was inversely related to temperature. The rate of response was, however, directly related to temperature.
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5.
The amplitude of red pigment-concentrating response decreased at low temperatures, but the duration of response increased. However, the integrated response of the red pigment did not vary significantly with changes in temperature.
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This investigation was carried out while the author was a Government of India Research Fellow. The author is thankful to Prof. P. N. Ganapati for providing the necessary facilities in his Department.
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Ranga Rao, K. The effects of temperature on the responses of chromatophores in the crab, Ocypode macrocera . Z. Vergl. Physiol. 65, 233–241 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00298131
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00298131