Crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters clean or 'groom' their olfactory organ, the antennule, by wiping it through a pair of mouthpart appendages, the third maxillipeds. In the lobster, only a few chemicals found in prey extracts, especially glutamate, elicit grooming. Chemosensory input driving grooming is likely to be mediated via sensilla located on antennules and third maxillipeds. Chemosensory antennular sensilla are innervated by neurons with central projections either to the glomerular olfactory lobe (aesthetasc sensilla) or to non-glomerular antennular neuropils (nonaesthetasc sensilla). By selectively ablating the chemosensory sensilla on the antennules and the third maxillipeds we have determined that the aesthetascs are necessary and sufficient to drive grooming behavior. Chemosensory activation of antennular grooming behavior likely follows a 'labeled-line' model in that aesthetasc neurons tuned to glutamate provide adequate input via the olfactory lobe to motor centers in the brain controlling antennular movements.
Many, if not all, decapod crustaceans engage in antennular grooming behaviour (AGB). It consists of two repetitive components: antennule wiping followed by autogrooming of the third maxillipeds. We have shown previously that, in Panulirus argus, AGB can be strongly induced only by a chemical found in prey extracts, L-glutamate (Glu). In contrast many chemicals induce other behaviours in crustaceans, such as foraging. We have examined whether other decapods, including the lobsters P. guttatus, P. interruptus, and Homarus americanus and the brachyuran Callinectes sapidus, exhibit chemically mediated AGB. Individuals were tested with 14 putative chemical stimuli found in prey extracts and with artificial seawater as a control stimulus, and the number of wipes in 2 min was recorded. Only Glu (0.5 mmol) elicited significant AGB in the three lobster species. In contrast C. sapidus exhibited no significant responses to chemical stimuli presented at 0.5 or 5 mmol, although it was frequently observed to wipe its antennules. We propose that chemosensory activation of AGB by Glu may be the typical behaviour for most lobsters but have been lost in the crabs.
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