Orientation in the water and antipredatory behaviour in sandhoppers

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Abstract
The behaviour of adult and juvenile Talitrus saltator was investigated after their release in water in a confined environment (a screened plexiglass bowl) and in the field. Results show that 1) inexperienced young sandhoppers are able to use their (innate) solar compass to orient themselves correctly landward; 2) adult individuals show a remarkable plasticity in their use of orientating factors, many of them in fact can use non‐celestial local cues; 3) the reason why individuals rapidly assume a landward direction seems to lie more in the risk of predation than in physical stress.