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First published online June 15, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 2480-2485 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02211
The relationship between body size and evoked potentials from the statocysts of the prawn Palaemon serratus
1 School of Earth, Ocean and Environmental Sciences and University of
Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
2 Plymouth Electron Microscopy Centre, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus,
Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
* Author for correspondence (e-mail: j.lovell{at}plymouth.ac.uk)
Accepted 16 March 2006
| Summary |
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Key words: crustacean, sensory system, hair cell, evoked potential, ontogeny, hearing, Palaemon serratus
| Introduction |
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In this work, the amplitude of the auditory evoked potentials (AEP)
generated in the statocyst from three size classes of P. serratus
when stimulated with a 500 Hz tone burst was measured, and the statocysts from
each group were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The statocyst
has been identified as being responsible for the mediation of acoustic stimuli
by Lovell et al., who demonstrated by both ablation of the organ and by
cutting the innervating nerve that the AEP is absent post treatment
(Lovell et al., 2005a
). In
this investigation, AEP recordings from the afferent neurones of the statocyst
were recorded by averaging potentials arising from nuclei in the auditory
pathway during acoustic stimulation
(Lovell et al., 2005a
). The
AEP system used recorded the generation of neural waveforms over a
user-defined time span and measures activity prior to, during and after
stimulation with sound. Auditory information from diverse species is of
importance because of rising concerns regarding the impact of anthropogenic
sounds and other forms of marine pollution on aquatic animals. However, until
recently, it has been generally assumed that crustaceans are only responsive
to strong vibrations transmitted through a solid (e.g.
Cohen and Dijkgraaf, 1961
).
This is contrary to Lovell et al. 's findings
(Lovell et al., 2005a
), which
show that prawns hear with an acuity and frequency range similar to that of
generalist fish and have the potential to be equally affected by loud
anthropogenic noise sources generated in the marine environment.
| Materials and methods |
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AEP methodology
The procedure used to acquire the acoustically evoked potentials was
approved by the United Kingdom Home Office. The test subjects were placed into
a flexible cradle formed from a soft rectangular nylon mesh saturated with
seawater. Oxygenated water kept at a temperature of 18°C was gravity fed
at an adjustable flow rate of 3 ml s1 and directed toward
the gills. The water was held in an aerated reservoir positioned in an
adjacent room, and fed to the prawn through a 4 mm diameter plastic tube. The
prawn was first placed lengthwise and centrally on an 80 mmx60 mm
rectangle of fine nylon netting, which was wrapped firmly around the
cephalothorax and pleon, and the two sides of the net were held together using
a clip. A schematic of the stimulus-generating and AEP recording system along
with details of the specimen holding equipment and electrode manipulators can
be found elsewhere (Lovell et al.,
2005a
). The clip was placed in a retort stand clamp fitted with
jointed electrode manipulator arms, and the aerated water pipe (for details,
see Lovell et al., 2005a
).
During the procedure to position the electrodes, the specimen and clamp were
suspended over a plastic tray, and aerated water was supplied to the prawn. A
retort stand and the experimental tank (450 mmx300 mmx200 mm,
LxWxD) were placed on an antivibration table, located in a
concrete basement fitted with anechoic panelling 3 mx2 mx2 m
(LxWxH). A selection of four prawns from each size group in the
holding tank ranging from 27 mm (0.1 g) to 35 mm (0.3 g), 50 mm (1.1 g) to 55
mm (1.4 g), and 66 mm (1.8 g) to 71 mm (1.9 g), were tested with a 500 Hz, 4
cycle tone burst presented at a sound pressure level of 125 dB (re. 1 µPa)
from an air mounted speaker. Working under a MEIJI binocular microscope, two
small holes were made in the cuticle layer using a lancet, penetrating the
carapace to a maximum depth of 0.3 mm to facilitate electrode positioning, in
accordance with the published procedure
(Lovell et al., 2005a
). The
reference electrode was located behind the supra-orbital spine, close to the
neural complex associated with the antennule, and the record electrode was
located in the peduncle close to the statocyst, at the junction between the
lateral antennular and otic ganglia. The clamp assembly with the specimen and
sited electrodes were then suspended from the retort stand positioned over the
experimental tank, and the prawn stationed 5 mm below the surface of the
water. After the hearing assessment, the prawns were relocated to a holding
tank for observation, prior to being returned to the divided aquarium. The
evoked response was amplified and digitised to 12 bits resolution and
recorded. This process was repeated 2000 times, and the response averaged to
remove electrical interference caused by neural activities other than
audition, and the myogenic noise generated by muscular activity. Each
measurement was repeated twice, as this aids in separating the evoked
response, which is the same from trace to trace, from the myogenic noise,
which varies in two successive measurements. After the averaging process, the
evoked potential could be detected, following the stimulus, by a short latency
period of 5 ms. The latency is accounted for by the time it takes the sound in
air to travel the 1 m to the prawn, plus 12 ms response latency. Each
prawn was tested twice to show that the AEP was repeatable. In order to obtain
a mean value for the EP, the µV value of the response with the largest
peak-to-peak value was calculated using the root mean square method described
in Eqn 1.
![]() | (1) |
The root mean square (RMS) values of both runs from the same animal were
then averaged together and entered into a one way ANOVA to test the
correlation between body size and receptor length on the AEP. The response of
the prawn was measured using a proprietary control and analysis programme
which both generated the stimulus signals and captured and analysed the
response, and was installed onto the PC (for details, see
Lovell et al., 2005a
).
Amplification of the sound was achieved using a Pioneer type SA-420 amplifier
and a 200 mm Eagle L032 loudspeaker with a frequency response range of
4018000 Hz. Additionally, the loudspeaker was placed inside a Faraday
cage and connected to a centralised earth point located in an adjacent room
where the PC, amplification, and analysis equipment was set up. Connecting
wires were fed through a 100 mm port in the partitioning wall.
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| Results |
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40 µm from the floor of the capsule. The number of setae in the
statocyst ranged from 30 to 38 for group 1 prawns, 56 to 73 for the group 2
prawns, and 72 to 83 for group 3 prawns. The sensory setae in
Fig.2A are arranged in a
`horseshoe' constructed from opposing and adjacent structures. The statolithic
material is primarily composed of sand grains; however other foreign
substances were regularly observed in many of the specimens, as can be seen in
Fig. 2A. Thematerial is
cemented to the projections from the tips of the surrounding setae by mucus,
forming a dense elliptical mass. The setae are arranged in a regular row
dividing further into two irregular rows at the base of the outer end of the
crescent (oc), with a single sensory seta (sss) present just inside the
aperture. The setae are slightly curved and orientate themselves towards the
centre of the crescent (Fig.
2B), where thread-like projections from the tips of the setae
interlace, forming a supportive basket. The projections (tlp) originate from
the tip of the setae and are only found on the upper portion of the cell tip,
linking with adjacent and neighbouring sensory setae to create the statolith
net, which works in conjunction with the mucous to hold the sand granules in
position. Each seta is attached to the sensory cushion via a heavily
ridged bulbous base, constructed of chitin resembling sclerotised cuticle. The
shortest hairs (<120 µm) were found proliferating in a band running down
the left side of the array, and the longest hairs (>170 µm) were found
in the right caudal quadrant.
|
Relationship between body size and setae length
Setae lengths differed significantly from each other (one-way ANOVA:
F=207.91, d.f., P<0.00005). Post hoc tests
revealed that the setae in group 1 were significantly shorter than in the
larger body groups, which did not differ from each other. The box and whisker
plot (Fig. 3) shows similar
mean setae lengths from both medium and large categories; the data from the
small prawns were positively skewed with the largest setae outlier overlapping
the mean of the medium and large data. Medium body length was also positively
skewed, whereas the large body category was negatively skewed; however, the
deviation from the mean in both cases was considerably less. Differences were
significant at the 5% level, and to determine how significant each sample is
from one another a multiple range test was completed. This revealed that the
hair cell length from group 1 prawns was significantly different from that of
groups 2 and 3, which showed very little significant difference.
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| Discussion |
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In conclusion, this study directly compares body size with the spatial
arrangement and size of the sensory setae and amplitude of evoked potentials
generated in the statocyst in response to a 500 Hz tone. The statocyst
morphology of P. serratus is similar to closely related species,
however, variation of the setae structure within the same genus was observed.
Although only one frequency was tested in this work, the results show the AEP
voltage averages between 0.55 µV to 0.57 µV from each of the
experimental populations, when stimulated with a sound presented at 125 dB
(re. 1 µPa at 1 m). As can be seen in
Fig. 4, the onset latency of
the response increases by nearly a millisecond in each successive size class,
reflecting an increase in the length of the neuronal pathway as the prawn
grows. In this experiment, the stimulus sound was generated in air, though the
use of submerged transducers set up to generate a sound field dominated by
particle motion can give different results compared to a pressure dominated
sound field such as the one produced by the air mounted loudspeaker (see
Lovell et al., 2005b
). The
information currently available shows that crustaceans are potentially
affected by anthropogenic noise, a finding that should be considered when
assessing the impact of environmental pollution on the ecology of marine
animals. Given that a P value of 0.925 was obtained from the ANOVA,
it is concluded that body size has no significant impact on the amplitude of
the evoked potentials at 500 Hz, even though the length of setae altered with
body size. Conversely, it has been shown
(Kenyon, 1996
;
Wysocki and Ladich, 2001
) that
auditory sensitivity improves during ontogenetic development in teleost fish,
though the latter found most sensitive frequency audible to the labyrinth fish
(Trichopsis vittata) shifted from 2.5 kHz to 1.5 kHz during ontogeny.
Although this work addresses the acquisition of AEPs from three body size
classes of prawn, the statocyst response to frequency from a range of body
size classes needs to be extended to incorporate the full audiograms defined
(Lovell et al., 2005a
).
| Acknowledgments |
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