A comparison of beating parameters in larval and post-larval locomotor systems of the lobster Homarus gammarus (L.).

A study has been made of the interrelations between rhythmical exopodite beating in different larval stages and swimmeret beating in poast-larval stages of the lobster Homarus gammarus. Data on exopodite beat cycle durations have been used for statistical comparisons of exopodite performance within one larva, and also between different stages of larval development. Inter-exopodite comparisons reveal clear bilateral differences (table 1), although there is no consistently favoured relationship (tables 2 and 3). There are significant differences in cycle duration between the first three developmental stages, with a slight increase at the first moult, and a marked decrease at the second (table 4). However, within each stage the repeat frequency exhibits little change (table 5). Therefore it appears that changes in swimming behaviour occur discontinuously in development, and are associated with the larval moults. It is suggested that changes in beat frequency, and especially the faster beating in stage III, may represent responses to changed loading conditions (table 7). Measurements of swimmeret beating in post-larval lobsters have been analysed in terms of cycle durations, and inter- and intra-segmental phase relations. Swimmeret beating patterns are very regular (figure 1), but not restricted to a narrow range of frequencies (table 6a). Intersegmental phase lag remains constant around 0.2 (figure 3) independent of beat frequency (figure 4). Similarly the powerstroke/returnstroke ratio of approximately 0.5 (figure 5) shows no significant correlation with cycle duration (figure 6). Differences emerge in the performance of larval exopodites and post-larval swimmerets (table 6b), although the possibility cannot be excluded that the larval exopodite oscillator in some way influences the developing action of the post-larval swimmeret system.