Heart and scaphognathite beat behaviour in laboratory-held Crangon crangon (L.)

Heart and scaphognathite beating activities of Crangon crangon (L.) have been monitored for several days under a fixed photoperiod regime. Freshly-captured animals, in particular, spend much of the light period buried in the substratum, and these periods are characterized by low heart rates and high scaphognathite beating rates. During the dark period, animals emerge from the sand. Swimming and walking excursions are most common during the first hours of the dark period, and such times are characterized by high heart rates and higher scaphognathite rates (both compared with daytime, buried rates). Periods of low activity, with the animals resting on the surface of the sand, extend over much of the remainder of the dark period, and at these times the animals had high heart rates but scaphognathite rates lower than those of buried animals. The increase in scaphognathite rates associated with the buried condition may be shown to be due to the gill ventilation system adopted by buried animals.