The locomotor behavior of Paramecium is determined by two components: swimming speed and the frequency of avoiding responses. The circadian oscillations of these two components were examined in order to interpret characteristics of the circadian locomotor rhythm, previously found in a Paramecium population using an originally defined parameter, “traverse frequency” (Hasegawa et al ., 1978, 1982). In our present study, a modified version of the previously developed, fully computerized, close‐up video/photoamplifier system was used. Results indicate that individual specimens swam fast and unidirectionally during the day, while at night, in a light–dark cycle, they swam slowly and frequently turned. This oscillatory pattern was sustained in continuous darkness, where fluctuation in the frequency of avoiding responses was a dominant characteristic. The time structure of the “random walk” of Paramecium behavior was also examined by constructing and stochastically testing histograms of the interval times between specimens consecutively traversing beneath an observation point. Statistical analyses of observation data indicated that the circadian organization of the two components by individual specimens resulted in a circadian accumulation/dispersal rhythm of the entire population. It was concluded that the circadian “traverse frequency” rhythm principally represented this circadian accumulation/dispersal rhythm.
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Hasegawa et al. (1984) studied this question.
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