Calcium ions in the aquatic environment drive planarians to food.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Even subtle changes in environmental factors can exert behavioral effects on creatures, which may alter interspecific interactions and eventually affect the ecosystem. However, how changes in environmental factors impact complex behaviors regulated by neural processes is largely unknown. The freshwater planarian Dugesia japonica, a free-living flatworm, displays distinct behavioral traits mediated by sensitive perception of environmental cues. Planarians are thus useful organisms for examining interactions between environmental changes and specific behaviors of animals.

Results

Here we found that feeding behavior was suppressed when the concentration of ions in the breeding water was low, while other behaviors were unaffected, resulting in differences in po

SUBMITTER: Mori M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6836377 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature