Surface glycoproteins are not the contact pheromones in the Lysmata shrimp

Behavioral evidence suggests that some male caridean shrimp, such as those of Lysmata species, identify conspecific females via contact pheromones that coat the cuticle surface of the females. In this study, we attempted to determine whether the contact pheromones in three Lysmata species, Lysmata ankeri, Lysmata boggessi, and Lysmata wurdemanni, are glycoproteins as hypothesized previously in a diverse group of aquatic invertebrates. Twenty lectins were screened and lectin-binding experiments indicated that lectin treatment did not affect mate recognition in the shrimps. The behavior of the male-phase (MP) shrimp in the three treatments (non-lectin-treated MP and lectin-treated euhermaphrodite-phase (EP) shrimp, lectin-treated MP and lectin-treated EP shrimp, and lectin-treated MP and non-lectin-treated EP shrimp) and in the control was not different in responding to lectin-treated and control EP shrimp. All the MP shrimp copulated with lectin-treated and control EP shrimp successfully. All the MP shrimp copulated with ethylenediamine tetraacetate-treated EP shrimp (with glycoproteins removed from their cuticle surface) immediately after they detected the EP shrimp. The results suggest that glycoproteins are not likely to be the contact sex pheromones in the three Lysmata shrimp species.