Do Decapod Crustaceans Have Nociceptors for Extreme pH?

Authors

Sakshi Puri, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Zen Faulkes, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2010

Abstract

Background: Nociception is the physiological detection of noxious stimuli. Because of its obvious importance, nociception is expected to be widespread across animal taxa and to trigger robust behaviours reliably. Nociception in invertebrates, such as crustaceans, is poorly studied.

Methodology/Principal Findings: Three decapod crustacean species were tested for nociceptive behaviour: Louisiana red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), white shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus), and grass shrimp (Palaemonetes sp.). Applying sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid, or benzocaine to the antennae caused no change in behaviour in the three species compared to controls. Animals did not groom the stimulated antenna, and there was no difference in movement of treated individuals and controls. Extracellular recordings of antennal nerves in P. clarkii revealed continual spontaneous activity, but no neurons that were reliably excited by the application of concentrated sodium hydroxide or hydrochloric acid.

Conclusions/Significance: Previously reported responses to extreme pH are either not consistently evoked across species or were mischaracterized as nociception. There was no behavioural or physiological evidence that the antennae contained specialized nociceptors that responded to pH.

Comments

© 2010 Puri, Faulkes. Original published version available at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010244

Recommended Citation

Puri S, Faulkes Z (2010) Do Decapod Crustaceans Have Nociceptors for Extreme pH? PLoS ONE 5(4): e10244. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010244

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Publication Title

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0010244