Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Gross Dissection of the Stomach of the Lobster, Homarus Americanus
Published on: May 22, 2009
Learning: rapid aversive conditioning in the gastropod mollusk Pleurobranchaea
Abstract:
Untrained Pleurobranchaea feed voraciously when presented food and withdraw from electrical shocks. We trained experimental animals in ten trials spaced 1 hour apart to withdraw from food alone by electrically shocking them if they fed or were indifferent to food. The greatest increase in the number of learned withdrawal responses occurred within 12 hours after conditioning, and was accompanied by long-lasting increased in the threshold and latency of feeding responses. Control animals, which received food and shock alternately (unpaired) every half hour, showed considerably weaker changes than experimentals. These control responses quickly returned to initial levels after conditioning.
Related Concept Videos
Mechanical and Chemical Digestion in the Small Intestine
Mechanical digestion in the small intestine involves movements such as segmentations and migrating motility complexes (MMCs), primarily controlled by the myenteric plexus. Segmentations are localized contractions occurring in areas of the intestine distended by chyme—a mixture of partially digested food. These contractions mix chyme with digestive juices, facilitating absorption...
Bacterial Phylum Planctomycetes
Marine Microbial Ecology
Deep Sea Microbial Ecology
Microbiota of the Stomach and Small Intestine

