Fitt W K, Coon S L
Biol Bull. 1992 Jun;182(3):401-408. doi: 10.2307/1542259.
Competent veliger larvae of the oysters Crassostrea virginica and C. gigas exhibited settlement behavior when exposed to ammonia (NH3). The threshold for this response decreased with increasing larval age. The response of veligers to adult-conditioned seawater was correlated with the concentration of NH3 in the seawater. Although the concentrations of NH3 found in marsh water flowing over oyster beds on Sapelo Island, Georgia, were never high enough to elicit settlement behavior from oyster larvae, the concentrations found near the substrate were sufficient to induce settlement behavior in older larvae of C. virginica. In addition, dilution occurs during sampling in the field and may lead one to underestimate, by a factor of 1.7 to 3.5, the actual concentration of NH3 associated with surfaces. In conclusion, NH3 may be an important environmental cue triggering settlement behavior of larval oysters, which, along with other substrate cues, leads to cementation and metamorphosis.
弗吉尼亚牡蛎（Crassostrea virginica）和巨蛎（C. gigas）的有能力的面盘幼虫在接触氨（NH3）时会表现出附着行为。这种反应的阈值会随着幼虫年龄的增加而降低。面盘幼虫对成年个体预处理过的海水的反应与海水中NH3的浓度相关。尽管在佐治亚州萨佩洛岛牡蛎床上方流动的沼泽水中发现的NH3浓度从未高到足以引发牡蛎幼虫的附着行为，但在底物附近发现的浓度足以诱导弗吉尼亚牡蛎较老幼虫的附着行为。此外，在野外采样过程中会发生稀释，这可能导致人们将与表面相关的NH3实际浓度低估1.7至3.5倍。总之，NH3可能是触发牡蛎幼虫附着行为的重要环境线索，它与其他底物线索一起，导致固着和变态。
