dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaThe flow generated by an active olfactory system of the red swamp crayfish
| Authors | P. Denissenko, S. Lukaschuk, T. Breithaupt |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0610064 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0610064 |
Abstract
Crayfish are nocturnal animals that mainly rely on their chemoreceptors to locate food. On a crayfish scale chemical stimuli received from a distant source are dispersed by an ambient flow rather than molecular diffusion. When the flow is weak or absent, food search can be facilitated by currents generated by the animal itself. Crayfish employ their anterior fan organs to produce a variety of flow patterns. Here we study the flow generated by Procambarus clarkii in response to odour stimulation. We found that while searching for food the crayfish generates one or two outward jets. These jets create an inflow which draws odour to the crayfish's anterior chemoreceptors. We quantified velocity fields in the inflow region using Particle Image Velocimetry. The results show that the inflow velocity decreases proportionally to the inverse distance from the animal so that it takes about a minute for an odour plume to reach the animal's chemoreceptors from a distance of 10 cm. We compare the inflow generated by live crayfish with that produced by a mimicking device, a phantom. The phantom consisted of two nozzles and an inlet providing two jets and a sink so that the overall mass flux was zero. The use of a phantom enabled us to analyze the inflow at various jet parameters. We showed that variation of the jets' directions and relative intensities allows changing the direction of odour attraction. These results provide a rationale for biomimetic robot design. We discuss sensitivity and efficiency of such a robot.
{
"annotation_id": "d38eaeeb-0091-4108-8461-782a653a2bdf",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:01:14.475000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:01:14.475000Z",
"file_hash": "6931ef35c267df938b6baaeffb005828ff83014c3d0b49b5093513752f655dbb",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "Crayfish are nocturnal animals that mainly rely on their chemoreceptors to\nlocate food. On a crayfish scale chemical stimuli received from a distant\nsource are dispersed by an ambient flow rather than molecular diffusion. When\nthe flow is weak or absent, food search can be facilitated by currents\ngenerated by the animal itself. Crayfish employ their anterior fan organs to\nproduce a variety of flow patterns. Here we study the flow generated by\nProcambarus clarkii in response to odour stimulation. We found that while\nsearching for food the crayfish generates one or two outward jets. These jets\ncreate an inflow which draws odour to the crayfish\u0027s anterior chemoreceptors.\nWe quantified velocity fields in the inflow region using Particle Image\nVelocimetry. The results show that the inflow velocity decreases proportionally\nto the inverse distance from the animal so that it takes about a minute for an\nodour plume to reach the animal\u0027s chemoreceptors from a distance of 10 cm. We\ncompare the inflow generated by live crayfish with that produced by a mimicking\ndevice, a phantom. The phantom consisted of two nozzles and an inlet providing\ntwo jets and a sink so that the overall mass flux was zero. The use of a\nphantom enabled us to analyze the inflow at various jet parameters. We showed\nthat variation of the jets\u0027 directions and relative intensities allows changing\nthe direction of odour attraction. These results provide a rationale for\nbiomimetic robot design. We discuss sensitivity and efficiency of such a robot.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0610064",
"authors": [
"P. Denissenko",
"S. Lukaschuk",
"T. Breithaupt"
],
"categories": [
"physics.flu-dyn",
"physics.bio-ph"
],
"title": "The flow generated by an active olfactory system of the red swamp crayfish",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0610064"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "d420796c-7b56-407e-ad1f-d1d6c184e76f",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}