Cover-Seeking Behavior and Shelter Use by Juvenile and Adult Crayfish, Procambarus clarkii: Potential Importance in Species Invasion

Antonelli, John; Steele, Craig W.; Skinner, Carol

doi:10.2307/1549236

Cited by 23 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Like size of shelter, darkness of the shelter also plays a major role in shelter selection by M. nobilii. Such an influence of darkness in shelter selection of crayfishes like P. clarkii and Orconectes rusticus are reported in earlier studies (Alberstadt et al 1995;Antonelli et al 1999).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Sheltering behaviour of Macrobrachium nobilii (Henderson and Matthai, 1910)

Mariappan

Balasundaram

2003

Acta ethologica

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Shelter acquisition seems to be one of the main causes for agonistic interactions in the communal culturing of decapod crustaceans, leading to reduction in survival and growth-rate values. Understanding how to reduce aggressive behaviour among individuals by providing suitable shelters would promote production efficiency and welfare in such aquaculture environments. Factors influencing the sheltering behaviour of a freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium nobilii, were studied in laboratory conditions. Prior ownership significantly increased the ability to retain a shelter; males were significantly more likely to acquire and retain a shelter than females, except females carrying eggs. Various movements of the prawn while acquiring the shelter and the behaviour pattern involved in evicting an occupant are described. The size of the shelter selected by an animal is directly related to its body size. Regarding the choice of the colour of the shelter, juveniles and adults preferred dark shelters over light-coloured shelters and never chose a transparent shelter.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Sheltering behaviour of Macrobrachium nobilii (Henderson and Matthai, 1910)

Mariappan

Balasundaram

2003

Acta ethologica

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“…Shelter choice studies have shown that P. clarkii adults prefer dark, covered areas [Antonelli et al, 1999;Blank and Figler, 1996] that have rough interiors [Blank and Figler, 1996] and are slightly larger than their bodies [Antonelli et al, 1999]. The composite characteristics of these preferences approximate the natural burrows excavated by this species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Maternal territoriality as an offspring defense strategy in red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii, Girard)

Figler

Blank

Peeke

2001

Aggressive Behavior

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The offspring-defense hypothesis of maternal territoriality in solitary and semisocial mammals [Wolff JO and Peterson JA. 1998. Ethol Ecol Evol 10:227-239] was evaluated in another taxon using maternal and nonmaternal female red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), a freshwater decapod crustacean that shows pronounced shelter-related maternal aggression. The maternal females were of three different categories: (1) ovigerous, (2) carrying primarily stage 1 offspring, or (3) tending offspring that were primarily stage 2. Each female was in residence in an individual aquarium containing only a gravel substrate for 24 hr prior to serial intrusions by male conspecifics. Virtually all of the residents, maternal and nonmaternal, excavated a depression (shelter) in the substrate prior to the first intrusion. The results showed that residents in each of the maternal categories won a significantly higher proportion of their encounters than did the nonmaternal residents, which showed only negligible defense and lost every encounter. However, there were no significant differences in encounter outcomes between the maternal resident categories. There was clear defense of the shelter by maternal females, with virtually all fighting being in or around it, thus demonstrating stable, heightened territorial defense throughout these maternal phases of reproduction. This support of the offspringdefense hypothesis of maternal territoriality is the first such evidence for a freshwater crustacean and is very similar to that recently reported in a related marine decapod, the American lobster (H. americanus). Aggr. Behav. 27:391-403, 2001.

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“…Because shelters can minimize aggression, their acquisition and retention has a direct bearing on survival, growth, and sharing of resources. Generally, juveniles of decapod crustaceans prefer open areas while adults prefer dark shelters (Orconectes rusticus; Alberstadt et al 1995;Steele et al 1997;Antonelli et al 1999). The percentage survival rates of juvenile M. nobilii at a stocking density of 77 were 62.4, 83.3 and 94% in sand, pebbles, and pebbles with PVC pipe, respectively (Mariappan 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shelter preference in Macrobrachium spp. with reference to aquaculture

2004

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Macrobrachium malcolmsonii, M. nobilii, and M. lamarrei were used to investigate their preferences among three substrate colors (dark brown, black, and light brown), shelter type (black tile and black PVC pipe), color (black and brown tile), and diameter, and regarding intraand inter-species habitation. Both M. lamarrei and M. malcolmsonii preferred dark-brown substrate, while M. nobilii preferred black. The choice of shelter type was monitored by time spent by each species in a black PVC tube or in a black tile. Within a 24-h period, M. malcolmsonii spent a greater amount of time (60.5%) within the black tile, while M. nobilii spent more time (71%) inside the black PVC tube. M. lamarrei always occupied an open area and thus was discarded from further experiments. If we consider daytime and nighttime separately, both species spent more time within the black tile during the day than during the night. Choice of shelter color was tested with black and brown shelters of identical size; both species exclusively preferred the black. Between the species, despite the smaller body size both male and female M. nobilii succeeded in evicting M. malcolmsonii, suggesting a stronger shelter affinity. When competing for shelter within the same species, a male was more dominant than a conspecific female and juvenile. Similarly males of both species allowed conspecific juveniles to cohabit for about 16% of the time. Male M. malcolmsonii also allowed cohabitation of a female for 31.2% of the time, unlike the male M. nobilii, which did not allow female cohabitation at all. Both species preferred shelters that were adjusted to their meral spread as opposed to their carapace width. The possibility of taking meral spread as a taxonomic character was also indicated. The study also found a linear relationship between exuvium weight and shelter affinity among the three species. A lower ratio indicated a higher shelter affinity. The exuvium/total body weight ratio confirmed the shelter affinity, which was ranked as M. nobilii (0.275) < M. malcolmsonii (0.312) < M. lamarrei (0.426).

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Cover-Seeking Behavior and Shelter Use by Juvenile and Adult Crayfish, Procambarus clarkii: Potential Importance in Species Invasion

Cited by 23 publications

References 0 publications

Sheltering behaviour of Macrobrachium nobilii (Henderson and Matthai, 1910)

Sheltering behaviour of Macrobrachium nobilii (Henderson and Matthai, 1910)

Maternal territoriality as an offspring defense strategy in red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii, Girard)

Shelter preference in Macrobrachium spp. with reference to aquaculture

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