Path integration error and adaptable search behaviors in a mantis shrimp
Loading...
Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2020-07-22
Type of Work
Department
Program
Citation of Original Publication
Rickesh N. Patel, Thomas W. Cronin; Path integration error and adaptable search behaviors in a mantis shrimp. J Exp Biol 15 July 2020; 223 (14): jeb224618. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.224618
Rights
This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
Subjects
Abstract
Mantis shrimp of the species Neogonodactylus oerstedii occupy small burrows in shallow waters throughout the Caribbean. These animals use path integration, a vector-based navigation strategy, to return to their homes while foraging. Here, we report that path integration in N. oerstedii is prone to error accumulated during outward foraging paths and we describe the search behavior that N. oerstedii employs after it fails to locate its home following the route provided by its path integrator. This search behavior forms continuously expanding, non-oriented loops that are centered near the point of search initiation. The radius of this search is scaled to the animal's positional uncertainty during path integration, improving the effectiveness of the search. The search behaviors exhibited by N. oerstedii bear a striking resemblance to search behaviors in other animals, offering potential avenues for the comparative examination of search behaviors and how they are optimized in disparate taxa.