Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on December 10, 2008
Chemical Senses 2009 34(2):159-169; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjn073
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Male but not Female Olfaction is Crucial for Intermolt Mating in European Lobsters (Homarus gammarus L.)
Department of Cell and Organism Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Correspondence to be sent to: Malin Skog, Department of Cell and Organism Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. e-mail: malin.skog{at}cob.lu.se
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Abstract |
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Chemical signals are common in most crustacean social interactions and are often perceived via chemosensory (olfactory) organs on the first antenna. Intermolt courtship behaviors and mating were investigated in size-matched pairs of intermolt European lobsters (Homarus gammarus) where the olfactory receptors of either the male or the female were lesioned with distilled water (olfactory ablation) or seawater (control). Matings or advanced male courtship behaviors (mounting and turning) were common in seawater controls and olfactory-ablated females. In contrast, when male olfaction was ablated with distilled water, there was not a single mating, and the only male courtship behaviors seen were a few very brief and unsuccessful mounting attempts. Individual females mated up to 5 times with different males, showing that previously inseminated females were still attractive to males. Thus, male but not female olfaction is crucial for intermolt mating in H. gammarus, indicating the presence of a female sex pheromone during the entire female molt cycle, not only at the time of molting. Female sex discrimination may be based on other cues from the male in combination with typical male behaviors.
Key words: antennule ablation, chemical communication, courtship, crustacea, reproductive behavior, sex pheromone
Accepted 15 November 2008