The Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, is a migratory crustacean that uses Earth's magnetic field as a navigational cue, but how these lobsters detect magnetic fields is not known. Magnetic material thought to be magnetite has previously been detected in spiny lobsters, but its role in magnetoreception, if any, remains unclear. As a first step toward investigating whether lobsters might ...

1. A simple chromatographic method is described for the purification of arginine kinase from lobster (Homarus vulgaris) muscle. 2. Some physical properties and the effects on enzyme activity of ionic strength, pH, buffer salts, metal ions and substrates are reported. 3. The kinetic parameters, evaluated by variation of the concentration of one of the substrates, are dependent on the concentrati...

In Homarus, the central pattern generators for the rhythmic motor activities of the gastric teeth and the pyloric chamber are located in the stomatogastric ganglion. It is shown that independent gastric and pyloric oscillators are also contained in higher nervous centres (the commissural ganglia) and provide a phasic rhythmic input to the stomatogastric pattern generators. This demonstrates tha...

The transient potassium (K+) current, or A-current (IA), plays an essential role in shaping the firing properties of identified neurons in the 14-cell pyloric network in the stomatogastric ganglion of the spiny lobster, Panulirus interruptus. The different cells in the pyloric network have distinct IAs. To begin to understand the molecular basis for IA heterogeneity, we examined the relationshi...

In Bahía de la Ascensión, Mexico, 'casitas' (large artificial shelters) are extensively used to harvest Caribbean spiny lobsters Panulirus argus. After the discovery of a pathogenic virus, Panulirus argus virus 1 (PaV1), in these lobsters, laboratory experiments revealed that PaV1 could be transmitted by contact and through water, and that lobsters avoided shelters harboring diseased conspecifi...

The spiny lobster, Panulirus marginatus, is endemic to the Hawaiian Archipelago and Johnston Atoll. The species is found throughout the archipelago and is the target of a trap fishery in the northwestern portion of the archipelago known as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). From the early 1980s to 1990, the majority of fishery catches came from two banks, Necker Island and Maro Reef, loc...

The effects of sex, injuries, season and site on the growth of the spiny lobsters Panulirus gracilis, and P. inflatus, were studied through mark-recapture techniques in two sites with different ecological characteristics on the coast of Guerrero, México. Panulirus gracilis occurred in both sites, whereas P. inflatus occurred only in one site. All recaptured individuals were adults. Both species...

A focal outbreak of malaria at Bonta sub-centre of PHC Kilvani, the UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli was reported during the month of August, 2014. Seven villages of the above block were affected. During the episode, around 757 fever cases were reported with Slide Positivity Rate (SPR) of 11.6%. The malaria epidemiological data for last three years from the subcentre area indicates that the area is e...

When attacked by predators, diverse animals actively or passively release molecules that evoke alarm and related anti-predatory behavior by nearby conspecifics. The actively released molecules are alarm pheromones, whereas the passively released molecules are alarm cues. For example, many insects have alarm-signaling systems that involve active release of alarm pheromones from specialized gland...