Abstract
IN intertidal organisms the rates at which various physiological functions proceed are often related to the state of the tide. In a habitat in which environmental conditions change so drastically with the ebb and flow of the tidal waters, this is not particularly surprising. What is remarkable is that the rate of many of these functions continues to vacillate in approximate synchrony with the tide when organisms are removed to non-tidal, constant conditions in the laboratory. These persistent vacillations are referred to as tidal or bimodal lunar day rhythms. By way of example, persistent tidal rhythms have been described for oxygen consumption in crabs1; vertical migrations of planarians2 and diatoms3; colour change in crabs4; spontaneous activity in crabs5,6, amphipods7,8, and fish9; and filtration rate in mussels10.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brown, jun., F. A., Bennett, M. F., and Webb, H. M., J. Cell. Comp. Physiol., 44, 477 (1954).
Gamble, F. W., and Keeble, F., Proc. Roy. Soc., 72, 93 (1903).
Palmer, J. D., and Round, F. E., Biol. Bull., 132, 44 (1967).
Brown, jun., F. A., Fingerman, M., Sandeen, M. I., and Webb, H. M., J. Exp. Zool., 123, 29 (1953).
Bennett, M. F., Shriner, J., and Brown, R. A., Biol. Bull., 112, 267 (1957).
Naylor, E., J. Exp. Biol., 35, 602 (1958).
Enright, J. T., Z. Vergl. Physiol., 46, 276 (1962).
Morgan, E., J. Anim. Ecol., 34, 731 (1965).
Gibson, R. N., Nature, 207, 544 (1965).
Rao, K. P., Biol. Bull., 106, 353 (1954).
Enright, J. T., Proc. Intern. Cong. Zool, 4, 355 (1963).
Enright, J. T., J. Theoret. Biol., 8, 426 (1965).
Blume, J., Bünning, E., and Müller, D., Biol. Zbl., 81, 569 (1962).
Chandrashekaran, M. K., Z. Vergl. Physiol., 50, 137 (1965).
Barnwell, F. H., Biol. Bull., 130, 1 (1966).
Palmer, J. D., Comp. Biochem. Physiol., 12, 273 (1964).
Mercer, D. M. A., in Circadian Clocks (edit. by Aschoff, J.), 23 (1965).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
PALMER, J. Daily and Tidal Components in the Persistent Rhythmic Activity of the Crab, Sesarma. Nature 215, 64–66 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/215064a0
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/215064a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
The influence of habitat, season and tidal regime in the activity of the intertidal crab Neohelice (=Chasmagnathus) granulata
Helgoland Marine Research (2013)
-
Circatidal swimming activity rhythm in a subtidal cumacean Dimorphostylis asiatica (Crustacea)
Marine Biology (1995)
-
Endogenous swimming rhythms in estuarine crab megalopae: implications for flood-tide transport
Marine Biology (1994)
-
Feeding and burrowing ecology of two East African mangrove crabs
Marine Biology (1991)
-
High-resolution analysis of locomotor activity rhythms indisconnected, a visual-system mutant ofDrosophila melanogaster
Behavior Genetics (1989)