Getting Ahead: Context-dependent Responses to Odorant Filaments Drive Along-stream Progress During Odor Tracking in Blue Crabs

The chemosensory signal structure governing the upstream progress of blue crabs to an odorant source was examined. We used a three-dimensional laser-induced fluorescence system to collect chemical concentration data simultaneously with behavior observations of actively tracking blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) in a variety of plume types. This allowed us to directly link chemical signal properties at the antennules and legs to subsequent upstream motion while altering the spatial and temporal intermittency characteristics of the sensory field. Our results suggest that odorant stimuli elicit responses in a binary fashion by causing upstream motion, provided the concentration at the antennules exceeds a specific threshold. In particular, we observed a significant association between crab velocity changes and odorant spike encounters defined using a threshold that is scaled to the mean of the instantaneous maximum concentration. Thresholds were different for each crab, indicating a context-sensitive response to signal dynamics. Our data also indicate that high frequency of odorant spike encounters terminate upstream movement. Further, the data provide evidence that the previous state of the crab and prior stimulus history influence the behavioral response (i.e. the response is context dependent). Two examples are: (1) crabs receiving prior odorant spikes attained elevated velocity more quickly in response to subsequent spikes; and (2) prior acceleration or deceleration of the crab influenced the response time period to a particular odorant spike. Finally, information from both leg and antennule chemosensors interact, suggesting parallel processing of odorant spike properties during navigation.