HORMONAL MODULATION OF PHEROMONE-MEDIATED BEHAVIOR IN A CRUSTACEAN

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Abstract
A stereotyped courtship display is normally triggered in the male blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, by a pheromone released from pubertal females. Following bilateral eyestalk ligation, ablation, or optic tract transection, males do not respond to the pheromone, suggesting that neural pathways in the eyestalk ganglia are important for processing or transmitting pheromone stimulus information. Interestingly, males begin to exhibit spontaneous display behavior within a few days following eyestalks ligation or ablation, but not if only the optic tracts are transected. We propose that the loss of a circulating eyestalk factor, which moderates the activity of CNS pathways controlling courtship display, is responsible for the induction of the spontaneous behavior. This factor may normally control pheromone receptivity in males by modulating the excitability of these CNS pathways either directly or by acting via an intermediate(s); possibly by regulating the activity of the androgenic glands which exhibit massive hypertrophy following eyestalk ligation.