Moonlight cycles synchronize oyster behaviour.

ABSTRACT: 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 i

SUBMITTER: Payton L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6371907 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature