Salt concentration and solar orientation in two supralittoral sandhoppers: Talitrus saltator (Montagu) and Talorchestia ugolinii Bellan Santini and Ruffo

The influence of salt concentration in the seawater on solar orientation in Talitrus saltator and Talorchestia ugolinii was studied in a confined environment (transparent plexiglass bowls). Sodium and calcium concentrations strongly affect both sea–land orientation and the sun compass mechanism in T.saltator, whereas the behaviour of T. ugolinii is less influenced. The absence of Na+ does not influence the sun compass mechanism, but causes an inversion in the mean direction of orientation in T. saltator. In T. ugolinii, there was no influence on the compass mechanism for solar orientation and no inversion in the directional choice. In the absence of Ca2+, a photonegative tendency was observed for T saltator together with marked reduction in the capacity to go in any direction. However, the effect of Ca2+ absence on the orientation capacity of T. saltator is reversible and the orientation capacity can be reduced in a few minutes. The different behaviour of the two species of sandhoppers is discussed.