Neuromuscular Control of Directional Swimming in Cubomedusae

立方水母（箱水母）包括海洋中一些最毒的动物，它们的栖息地包括用于人类娱乐的近岸地区。 最近的证据表明，两种毒性较低的立方水母正在大量入侵当地北卡罗来纳州沃茨，就在受欢迎的海滩附近。 此外，这些水母属于一个动物群体，包括珊瑚和海葵，具有最简单和最原始的多细胞神经系统。 尽管如此简单，这些动物有非常丰富的行为剧目，可以成功地避开障碍物，游向昏暗的光源，并对短暂的阴影作出反应。 这些特性强调了理解这种非常活跃的水母群体中行为的神经控制的重要性：更好地理解如何使人类的娱乐活动适应这些有毒动物不断扩大的栖息地，并深入了解神经系统功能的进化，一般来说，与行为变异和肌肉控制有关。 它们是小鱼和甲壳类动物的贪婪掠食者，对具有商业价值的物种的影响尚待评估。 最后，立方水母类行为的神经控制信息可能在动物启发的海洋机器人中有用，这些机器人可能在商业和军事应用中都有用。 本研究将结合神经元和肌肉的电记录、神经肌肉组织的结构检查和行为观察，描述水母对视觉和机械刺激的快速准确的转向能力，并描述水母强大的游泳能力。

Cubozoan jellyfish (box jellyfish) include some of the most venomous animals in the ocean, and their habitat includes nearshore areas in use for human recreation. Recent evidence suggests that two less venomous species of cubomedusae are invading local North Carolina waters in large numbers, just off of popular beaches. Furthermore, these jellyfish belong to an animal group, including corals and anemones, with the simplest and most primitive multicellular nervous systems. Despite this simplicity, these animals have very rich behavioral repertoires and can successfully avoid obstacles, swim toward dim light sources, and respond to brief shadows. These properties underline the importance of understanding the neural control of behavior in this very active group of jellyfish: to better understand how to adapt human recreational activity to the expanding habitat of these venomous animals and to gain insight into the evolution of nervous system function, in general, related to behavioral variability and muscular control. As voracious predators on small fish and crustaceans, their impact on commercially valuable species has yet to be evaluated. Finally, information on the neural control of behavior in cubomedusae may be useful in animal-inspired marine robotics that may be of use in both commercial and military applications. This project will use a combination of electrical recording from neurons and muscles, structural examination of neuromuscular organization, and behavioral observations to describe the rapid and accurate turning abilities in response to both visual and mechanical stimuli, and to describe the strong swimming abilities of the jellyfish.