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The uropod righting reaction of the crayfishProcambarus clarkii (Girard): an equilibrium response driven by two largely independent reflex pathways

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Summary

  1. 1.

    The uropod righting reaction of the crayfish,Procambarus clarkii, was investigated in response to stimulation of proprioceptors at the bases of the walking legs and to stimulation of the balance organs, the statocysts.

  2. 2.

    Tilting a platform beneath the legs of crayfish elicited movements of the exopodites of the uropods in the horizontal plane. These were produced by activity only in the slow opener and closer muscles of the exopodites, the fast muscles not being involved in the formation of the uropod pattern. Platform tilts (±20°) with the axis of rotation parallel to the transverse axis of the body elicited a symmetrical closing of the exopodites when the anterior leg groups were depressed, and a symmetrical opening when the same leg groups were levated.

  3. 3.

    Platform tilts parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body elicited asymmetrical movements of the uropods with the exopodite ipsilateral to the levated legs opening and the contralateral exopodite closing. In all experiments the responses of the uropods were only reliably elicited when accompanied by extension of the abdomen.

  4. 4.

    The influence of input from various leg groups was examined by raising them from the oscillating platform in various combinations. The strongest reflex drive came from the 4th and 5th pairs of walking legs. The major source of input came from the coxo-basipodite (C-B) joint of the walking legs. Blocking other leg joints (mero-carpopodite (M-C) and carpo-propodite (C-P)) had no obvious effects on the normal response.

  5. 5.

    Tilting animals in the roll plane (±20°), with no leg contact, produced an opening of the exopodite on the upward side and a closing of the exopodite on the downward side. Responses were again only reliably elicited when accompanied by abdominal extension, and were produced by activity only in the slow opener and closer muscles.

  6. 6.

    Previously identified statocyst interneurones (C1 and C2) were recorded in the circumoesophageal commissures. No modulation of their spontaneous activity by leg input could be detected.

  7. 7.

    Results suggest that separate pathways from the leg proprioceptors and the statocyst organs to the uropods exist and converge at a late stage in the pathway, within the terminal (6th) abdominal ganglion.

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Abbreviations

C-B :

coxo-basipodite joint

M-C :

mero-carpopodite joint

C-P :

carpo-propodite joint

LNSN :

local non-spiking interneurone

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Author notes

  1. Philip L. Newland

    Present address: Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CB2 3EJ, Cambridge, England

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoological Institute, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, 060, Sapporo, Japan

    Philip L. Newland

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  1. Philip L. Newland
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Newland, P.L. The uropod righting reaction of the crayfishProcambarus clarkii (Girard): an equilibrium response driven by two largely independent reflex pathways. J. Comp. Physiol. 164, 685–696 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00614511

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00614511

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