Effect of naphthalene on color changes of the sand fiddler crab, Uca pugilator.

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, naphthalene, inhibited the melanin dispersion, which normally occurs in the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator, during the dark phase of its circadian rhythm of color change. Naphthalene produced this inhibition no matter whether the melanin was fully aggregated or more or less dispersed at the time of initial exposure. Inhibition of the circadian melanin dispersion does not appear to be due to a direct action of naphthalene on the melanophores. This inhibition was concentration-dependent with acute daily exposure. Naphthalene does not, however, inhibit melanin dispersion in response to a black background, indicating thereby that naphthalene-exposed crabs continue to synthesize melanin-dispersing hormone and norepinephrine.