| Popis: |
This chapter focuses on chemoreception in aquatic invertebrates, animals that, by the nature of their habitat, sense molecules in solution, as is typical of vertebrate taste. Many aquatic invertebrates have a well-developed chemical sense that enables the animals to monitor changes in the chemical composition of the aqueous environment in which they are immersed. The chemicals most frequently identified as stimulants of feeding behavior in aquatic invertebrates are some of the simple, common tissue metabolites, especially the amino acids, quaternary ammonium compounds, and nucleotides. Several aquatic invertebrates are known to release specific chemicals serving as sex pheromones that stimulate aspects of reproductive behavior in individuals of the opposite sex. The crustaceans are a diverse group of primarily aquatic invertebrates, but most is known about chemoreception in the larger, decapod crustaceans since crabs, lobsters, and crayfish provide favorable preparations for neurobiological research. By analogy with insects, the terms “smell” and “taste” have been applied to chemoreception in decapod crustaceans. |
