Decapod Crustacean Leg Coordination during Walking

Crustacean walking has only recently been subjected to intensive investigation by modern behavioral and neurophysiological techniques (Evoy and Fourtner, 1973a; Barnes, 1975b; Evoy and Ayers, 1980). A large body of data exists in the older literature but it is more descriptive than experimental due to inadequate methodology (see Lochhead, 1961). Moreover, in many of these cases, I have the impression that crustaceans such as decapods have more often been considered as insects with four or five pair of legs than for their own peculiarity. This is unfortunate for they are intriguing in their own right, especially in regard to leg coordination, a subject I will discuss in this paper.