Moonlight cycles synchronize oyster behaviour

Apr 9, 2019Biology letters

Moonlight cycles align oyster behavior

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Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

Oysters increase valve opening amplitude by 25% during third quarter Moons compared to first quarter Moons.

Oysters adjust their valve activity in response to both the intensity and direction of lunar light.
The increase in valve opening amplitude occurs despite identical lunar illumination during different moon phases.
This modulation suggests that oyster valve behaviour is not a direct response to the amount of moonlight.
Moonlight cycles may help oysters synchronize their behaviour and various physiological functions.

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Organisms possess endogenous clock mechanisms that are synchronized to external cues and orchestrate biological rhythms. Internal timing confers the advantage of being able to anticipate environmental cycles inherent in life on Earth and to prepare accordingly. Moonlight-entrained rhythms are poorly described, being much less investigated than circadian and circannual rhythms synchronized by sunlight. Yet focus on these lunar rhythms is highly relevant to understanding temporal organization of biological processes. Here, we investigate moonlight cycle effects on valve activity behaviour of the oyster Crassostrea gigas. Our results show that oysters modulate valve behaviour according to both intensity and direction of the lunar illumination cycle. As a consequence, valve opening amplitude is significantly increased at third quarter Moons (decreasing lunar illumination) compared with first quarter Moons (increasing lunar illumination) despite identical lunar illumination, and this indicates that oyster modulation of valve behaviour by moonlight cycles is not a direct response to lunar illumination. We propose that oysters use moonlight cycles to synchronize behaviour and also other physiological and ecological aspects of this benthic mollusc bivalve.

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Moonlight cycles synchronize oyster behaviour

Abstract

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