Toxicity and behavioral assays of CoTS synthetic peptides (IMAGE)
Caption
The main findings from experiments with the synthetic peptide mixture (SPM). A) shows a toxicity assay in which brine shrimp (Artemia salinia) are subjected to various concentrations of the SPM, showing a very high survival rate. The dips in survival rate at the end of the experiment are most likely caused by natural factors.
B) shows cumulative heatmaps with the location of the CoTS in two separate flume assay tanks (left and right). Each tank contains two parallel, non-mixing water flows maintained under highly controlled conditions, with no turbulence or blending between the streams inside the tank. One flow – the “cue arm” – contains a steady concentration of the SPM, added to the flow at the white dot. CoTS were released at the boundary between the two flows in the tank, with warmer colors indicating areas where the starfish spend more time during the experiments.
C) and D) indicate the duration spent in each ‘arm’ of the tanks and the amount of meandering (a type of foraging or searching movement by the CoTS to infer the source of a chemical cue) respectively.
Credit
Harris et al., 2025
Usage Restrictions
Credit must be given to the creator.
License
CC BY