Animal-based sensors have been increasingly applied to many water monitoring systems and ecological studies. One of the staple organisms used as living sensors for such systems is Daphnia. This organism has been extensively studied and, with time, used in many toxicological and pharmaceutical bioassays, often used for exploring the ecology of freshwater communities. One of its behaviours used for evaluating the state of the aquatic environment is phototaxis. A disruption in the predicted behaviour is interpreted as a sign of stress and forms the basis for further investigation. However, phototaxis is a result of complex processes counteracting and interacting with each other. Predator presence, food quality, body pigmentation and other factors can greatly affect the predicted phototactic response, hampering its reliability as a bioindicator. Therefore, a holistic approach and meticulous documentation of the methods are needed for the correct interpretation of this behavioural indicator. In this review, we present the current methods used for studying phototaxis, the factors affecting it and proposed ways to optimise the reliability of the results.
Keywords: Animal behaviour; Biosensor; Daphnia; Phototaxis; Toxicity assessment.
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