The lab houses several pieces of equipment for testing how larvae respond to discrete chemical cues. Among these are a dual channel choice tank and a shuttle tank from Loligo Systems. The choice tank is designed for preference and avoidance experiments in low, laminar flow environments. The test area is 32 x 40 cm, with up to 19 L capacity. The shuttle tank apparatus has two 400 mL cylinders separated by a small passage. Rotational flow in each chamber keeps the water columns discrete.
Our team uses these tanks to elicit larval behavior from chemical cues such as pollutants, odors from predators or conspecifics, or other environmental cues such as temperature and pH.
Click on the images for further details.