Control of diel vertical migration: Photoresponses of a larval crustacean1

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Abstract
The lower threshold for phototaxis of dark‐adapted larvae of the crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii is 10‒7 W·m‒2 at 500‐nm light. This threshold does not change throughout development. In the Newport River estuary (North Carolina), larvae show a pattern of nocturnal vertical migration in which the distribution of later‐stage zoeal larvae centers on the 10‒7 W·m‒2 isolume during the day. The behavioral responses underlying this relationship include a negative geotaxis in darkness which changes to a sinking response in light with a natural underwater distribution. The minimum increase in intensity above the lower threshold which evokes sinking decreases progressively with age. The intensity is well above the phototactic response threshold for stage I zoeae, but within one log unit of threshold for the other three zoeal stages. Thus, during the day larvae are associated with a preferred light level. This association results from a negative geotaxis in darkness that changes to a sinking response upon an increase in light intensity.