Activity measurement of decapod crustaceans: a comparison of white and infrared photographic illumination.

Abstract

Activity of western rock lobsters Panulirus longipes (Milne-Edwards)* and western king prawns Penaeus latisulcatus Kishinouye was investigated by time-lapse photography using white and infrared photographic flash on alternate days. The activity of the prawns, but not of the rock lobsters, was depressed significantly by white flash illumination, and it is concluded that such illumination should not be used in behavioural experiments without quantifying its effects.