Carolina Peñalva-Arana

Advisor: Stanley Dodson

Contact info:
PhD candidate at UWM - Great Lakes WATER Institute.

E-mail: dinora@uwm.edu

Research projects/interests:

The goal of my graduate research is to increase our understanding of the sensory biology of the sentinel species Daphnia. Since the early 1980’s Daphnia species have been utilized for assessing chronic and acute effects of water born toxins. However, our knowledge of the sensory biology of Daphnia been rarely explored and to date little is known about their chemosensory capabilities. Although discussions have ensued about the possible chemosensory attributes of Daphnia, mainly due to its ability to alter its behavior in the presence of chemical cues, no one has looked for chemoreceptors or studied their neurobiology. Therefore, no one has been able to link behavioral response with chemosensory ability. Since observations suggest that behavioral responses are immediate, then designing a system that detects these changes as they occur may be the most direct way of identifying relevant environmental cues for the animal, and help with assessing the effects of chemicals, such as emerging contaminants, have on the organism. The main goal of my research is to describe the sensory biology of the sentinel species Daphnia, and second to design a biomonitoring system for effective real time toxicological assessment of water born chemicals. Currently the sensory structures of Daphnia are being studied in D. pulex and D. magna. Both species are commonly used for toxicity assessments around the world. Overall, I hypothesize that most chemoreceptors are located within the path of the feeding current, dictating the rate of feeding, swimming strategy, and thus regulating the behavioral response of Daphnia to changing chemical landscapes.

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