- 1.
In the rock lobster, Palinurus vulgaris, mechanical vibration applied to one point on the cuticle of the cephalothorax induced phasic sensory activity in numerous cuticular nerve branches innervating most of the carapace.
- 2.
The same vibratory stimulus produced two kinds of effect on the tonic activity of the motoneurones innervating the extensor and flexor muscles of the distal joints (J2 and J3) of the antenna: a reciprocal motor effect, decreasing the extensor motoneurone activity and increasing the flexor motoneurone discharge, or a diffuse facilitatory motor effect increasing both extensor and flexor motoneurone activity.
- 3.
The extensor and flexor excitatory motoneurones, like the inhibitory motoneurone common to the J2 and J3 extensor and flexor muscles, can be driven in a one-to-one manner by vibration at low frequency (5–10 Hz).
- 4.
Either motor effect of cuticular stimulation can be modified by other sensory stimuli, e.g. passive movements of the uropods.
- 5.
Cuticular vibration modulates the extensor and flexor resistance reflexes elicited by passive extension/flexion movements of the flagellum, the nature of this modulation depending upon which effect the vibratory stimulus alone produces.
- 6.
The functional significance of the cuticular motor effects is discussed.
In the field: an interview with Harald Wolf
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In our new Conversation, Harald Wolf talks about his fieldwork experiences working with desert ants in Tunisia to understand their navigation.
Propose a new Workshop
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Our Workshops bring together leading experts and early-career researchers from a range of scientific backgrounds. Applications are now open to propose Workshops for 2024, one of which will be held in a Global South country.
Julian Dow steps down and John Terblanche joins the JEB team
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After 15 years with the journal, Julian Dow from University of Glasgow, UK, is stepping down as a Monitoring Editor. We wish Julian all the best for the future and welcome John Terblanche, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, who is joining the team. Julian talks about his long association with The Company of Biologists and the journal and John tells us about his life and career in this News article.
The capture of crude oil droplets by filter feeders at high and low Reynolds numbers
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Researchers from the University of Montreal, Canada, reveal how tiny filter feeding barnacles and Daphnia entrap and consume minute droplets of crude oil, introducing the pollutant at the bottom of the food chain.
Patterns and processes in amphibious fish
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In their Review, Keegan Lutek, Cassandra Donatelli and Emily Standen discuss the biomechanics and neural control of terrestrial locomotion in amphibious fish. They explore how locomotor mode depends on body shape, physical constraints and phylogeny.
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