The integration of leg position‐receptors and their interaction with statocyst inputs in spiny lobsters (reactions ofpalinurus vulgaristo substrate tilt III)

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Abstract
Eyestalk responses of Palinurus to standard tilt‐and‐return and oscillatory movements of a footboard are larger at the phasic peak if the legs are moved ventrally than if moved in a dorsal direction (Figures 1, 2). The magnitude of the responses to stimulation of all ten legs (full‐board) corresponds to the sum of responses to separate stimulation of the legs of each side by half‐boards (Figures 3, 4). The results of stimulating legs singly or in small groups also indicate an algebraic summation of leg inputs (Figures 5, 6). The legs of one side elicit a larger eyestalk response ipsilaterally than contralaterally (Figures 5, 7, 8). Studies of the interaction of leg receptor and statocyst inputs indicate that the response to footboard stimulation of animals without statoliths is greater than that of animals with intact stato‐cysts (Figures 9,10). Lobsters with statocysts in action standing freely on a tilting footboard show compensatory eyestalk responses to the change in body‐to‐gravity angle, but in animals lacking statoliths the eyes maintain their positions relative to the board (Figure 11). Stimulation of the legs of one side in animals with only one statocyst in action reveals that the statocyst affects the contralateral eye more strongly (Figure 12) in contrast to the ipsilateral bias of the leg receptors.