Vol. 61, 2022

(update: 2022.2.23)

Effect of Blue Light on the Growth of the Red Swamp Crayfish Procambraus clarkii Larvae - Seasonal and Sexual Differences

Kenji Toyota^1,2,3,*, Kazuki Usami², Kanta Mizusawa⁴, and Tsuyoshi Ohira^2,*

¹Marine Biological Station, Sado Center for Ecological Sustainability, Niigata University, Sado, Niigata 952-2135, Japan. *Correspondences: E-mail: megabass0719@yahoo.co.jp (Toyota)
²Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kanagawa University, 2946 Tsuchiya, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, 259-1293, Japan. E-mail: rtfkgiulg@gmail.com (Usami); ohirat-bio@kanagawa-u.ac.jp (Ohira)
³Department of Biological Science and Technology, Faculty of Industrial Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, 6-3-1 Niijuku, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo 125-8585, Japan.
⁴School of Marine Biosciences, Kitasato University, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0373, Japan. E-mail: mizusawa@kitasato-u.ac.jp (Mizusawa)

Received 25 January 2021 / Accepted 19 December 2021
Communicated by Benny K.K. Chan

Organisms have the ability to adapt their behavior and physiology in response to seasonal changes in their habitat’s environments. Although it is known that a specific light wavelength affects growth and reproduction in various animal taxa, its effect on sexual and seasonal differences in year-round breeding animals remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that a blue light stimulus promotes or suppresses larval growth in the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkia depending on the season. During the spawning season (natural growing period), blue light irradiation accelerates female growth faster than in males, but suppresses growth in both females and males in the overwintering season. Moreover, these seasonal plastic effects of blue light show apparent sexual differences, with female juveniles exhibiting the greatest sensitivity. Our findings provide an opportunity to research how the red swamp crayfish can adapt to various habitable niches from the point of view of light color perception, and can be applied for the development of a more effective aquaculture system, not only for crayfish, but also for other commercially available decapod crustaceans using a specific light environment.

Key words: Crayfish, Sexual difference, Seasonal difference, Larval growth, Light effect.

Citation: Toyota K, Usami K, Mizusawa K, Ohira T. 2022. Effect of blue light on the growth of the red swamp crayfish Procambraus clarkii larvae - seasonal and sexual differences. Zool Stud 61:3. doi:10.6620/ZS.2022.61-03.

Supplementary materials: Fig. S1 | Fig. S2