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Alternate Title

Effects of Diflubenzeron on the Ontogeny of Phototaxis by Palaemonetes pugio

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The phototaxis by larvae of the grass shrimp Palaemonetes pugio that hatched from embryos which were exposed to a single pulse concentration of diflubenzuron (DFB; Dimilin®) was quantified. Stage IV embryos (6-day-old) were exposed to 0.5 µg/L of DFB for 4 days followed by transfer into clean seawater for the rest of the incubation period. The photoresponses of light-adapted larvae from untreated embryos and embryos treated with 0.5 µg/L DFB were monitored from 1 day through 8 day post hatch for phototactic responses to 500 nm light. Larvae from untreated embryos exhibited strong positive phototaxis at high light intensities (3 x 10-2 and 3 x 10-1 Wm-2) but became negatively phototactic at lower light intensities (3 x 10-5 to 3 x 10-3 Wm-2). This phototactic pattern continued during the monitoring period. On the other hand, larvae from DFB-treated embryos exhibited altered phototaxis for the first 3 days. Alterations were especially evident on Day 1, as larvae were only negatively phototactic. By Day 4, these larvae reverted to the normal pattern of photoresponses shown by untreated larvae. These results indicated that the alterations in photoresponses of larvae caused by embryonic exposure to DFB are only transitory and can be corrected within 4 days of hatching if the larvae are exposed to water lacking DFB.

First Page

7

Last Page

14

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