Visually guided obstacle avoidance in the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora and Chiropsella bronzie

SUMMARY Box jellyfish, cubomedusae, possess an impressive total of 24 eyes of four morphologically different types. Two of these eye types, called the upper and lower lens eyes, are camera-type eyes with spherical fish-like lenses. Compared with other cnidarians, cubomedusae also have an elaborate behavioral repertoire, which seems to be predominantly visually guided. Still, positive phototaxis is the only behavior described so far that is likely to be correlated with the eyes. We have explored the obstacle avoidance response of the Caribbean species Tripedalia cystophora and the Australian species Chiropsella bronzie in a flow chamber. Our results show that obstacle avoidance is visually guided. Avoidance behavior is triggered when the obstacle takes up a certain angle in the visual field. The results do not allow conclusions on whether color vision is involved but the strength of the response had a tendency to follow the intensity contrast between the obstacle and the surroundings (chamber walls). In the flow chamber Tripedalia cystophora displayed a stronger obstacle avoidance response than Chiropsella bronzie since they had less contact with the obstacles. This seems to follow differences in their habitats.

[1]  Edward J. Buskey,et al.  Behavioral adaptations of the cubozoan medusa Tripedalia cystophora for feeding on copepod (Dioithona oculata) swarms , 2003 .

[2]  内田 享.  Studies on the Stauromedusae and Cubomedusae, with special reference to their metamorphosis , 1928 .

[3]  G. Woodward,et al.  Kinematic analysis of swimming in Australian box jellyfish, Chiropsalmus sp. and Chironex fleckeri (Cubozoa, Cnidaria: Chirodropidae) , 2005 .

[4]  C. Bigger,et al.  A Comparison of Putative Sensory Receptors Associated with Nematocysts in an Anthozoan and a Scyphozoan , 1976 .

[5]  P. Hamner,et al.  Swimming, feeding, circulation and vision in the Australian box jellyfish, Chironex fleckeri (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) , 1995 .

[6]  Martin Brinkmann,et al.  Mechanoreception and synaptic transmission of hydrozoan nematocytes , 2004, Hydrobiologia.

[7]  C Weber,et al.  Electrical activities of a type of electroretinogram recorded from the ocellus of a jellyfish, Polyorchis penicillatus (Hydromedusae). , 1982, The Journal of experimental zoology.

[8]  R. Hartwick.  Observations on the anatomy, behaviour, reproduction and life cycle of the cubozoan Carybdea sivickisi , 1991, Hydrobiologia.

[9]  K. Donner,et al.  In search of the visual pigment template , 2000, Visual Neuroscience.

[10]  S. Strand,et al.  Sun-compass migration by Aurelia aurita (Scyphozoa): population retention and reproduction in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia , 1994 .

[11]  Peter Ekström,et al.  The bilaterally symmetric rhopalial nervous system of box jellyfish , 2006 .

[12]  C. Taddei-Ferretti,et al.  The photobiology of Hydra’s periodic activity , 2004, Hydrobiologia.

[13]  Christian H. Weber,et al.  Electrical activity in response to light of the ocellus of the hydromedusan , 1982 .

[14]  M. Coates,et al.  Visual Ecology and Functional Morphology of Cubozoa (Cnidaria)1 , 2003, Integrative and comparative biology.

[15]  Y. Gunji,et al.  Flexibility in starfish behavior by multi-layered mechanism of self-organization. , 2005, Bio Systems.

[16]  V. Martin,et al.  Photoreceptors of cubozoan jellyfish , 2004, Hydrobiologia.

[17]  V. Martin,et al.  Photoreceptors of cnidarians , 2002 .

[18]  S. A. Arkett,et al.  Neuronal mechanisms of a hydromedusan shadow reflex , 1986, Journal of Comparative Physiology A.

[19]  J. Pearse,et al.  Vision of cubomedusan jellyfishes. , 1978, Science.

[20]  Lars Gislén,et al.  Advanced optics in a jellyfish eye , 2005, Nature.

[21]  J. Seymour,et al.  Growth and age determination of the tropical Australian cubozoan Chiropsalmus sp. , 2004, Hydrobiologia.

[22]  A. Milner,et al.  Automatic avoidance of obstacles is a dorsal stream function: evidence from optic ataxia , 2004, Nature Neuroscience.

[23]  R. Robertson,et al.  Collision avoidance of flying locusts: steering torques and behaviour , 1993 .

[24]  F. Dodge,et al.  Visually guided behavior of juvenile horseshoe crabs. , 2001, The Biological bulletin.

[25]  R. Satterlie.  Putative extraocellar photoreceptors in the outer nerve ring of Polyorchis penicillatus , 1985 .

[26]  Naohide Yutsu.  Notes on the Physiology of Charybdea rastonii , 1917 .

[27]  C. L. Singla.  Ocelli of hydromedusae , 1974, Cell and Tissue Research.

[28]  T. Long,et al.  Courtship and reproduction in Carybdea sivickisi (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) , 2005 .

[29]  G. Mackie,et al.  Electrically coupled, photosensitive neurons control swimming in a jellyfish. , 1977, Science.

[30]  A. N. Spencer,et al.  Neuronal mechanisms of a hydromedusan shadow reflex , 2004, Journal of Comparative Physiology A.

[31]  R. Larson.  Cubomedusae: Feeding — Functional Morphology, Behavior and Phylogenetic Position , 1976 .

[32]  Scott E. Stewart,et al.  Field behavior of tripedalia cystophora (class cubozoa) , 1996 .

[33]  G. Matsumoto.  Observations on the anatomy and behavior of the cubozoan Carybdea rastonni Haacke , 1995 .

[34]  William M. Ilamner,et al.  Long‐distance horizontal migrations of zooplankton (Scyphomedusae: Mastigias)1 , 1981 .

[35]  D. Griffin.  Return to the Magic Well: Echolocation Behavior of Bats and Responses of Insect Prey , 2001 .

[36]  A PRELIMINARY NOTE ON THE ELECTRICAL RESPONSE TO SHADOWS OF THE ANTHOMEDUSA, SPIROCODON SALTATRIX , 1973 .

[37]  D. Nilsson,et al.  The lens eyes of the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora and Chiropsalmus sp. are slow and color-blind , 2007, Journal of Comparative Physiology A.

[38]  G. Mackie.  Coelenterate Ecology and Behavior , 1976, Springer US.

[39]  L. Salvini-Plawen,et al.  Ocelli in a Cnidaria polyp: the ultrastructure of the pigment spots in Stylocoronella riedli (Scyphozoa, Stauromedusae) , 1995, Zoomorphology.

[40]  W. Hamner,et al.  Long-distance horizontal migrations of zooplankton (Scyphomedusae: Mastigias) [Three marine lakes, Western Caroline Islands] , 1981 .

[41]  Edward W. Berger,et al.  The histological structure of the eyes of Cubomedusæ , 1898 .

[42]  U. Thurm,et al.  Ultrastructural evidence for the occurrence of three types of mechanosensitive cells in the tentacles of the cubozoan polypCarybdea marsupialis , 1993, Protoplasma.

[43]  Dan-Eric Nilsson,et al.  The spectral sensitivity of the lens eyes of a box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora (Conant) , 2006, Journal of Experimental Biology.