Beard, 2012

Beard LS. 2012. Responses to predator recognition odors in Marmorkrebs. Master’s thesis, Department of Biology, The University of Texas-Pan American, ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1152525739?accountid=7116

Abstract

Marmorkrebs is a parthenogenetic crayfish with no indigenous populations. They have been introduced in several countries and could become an invasive species. Individuals introduced in Germany had longer, sharper spines, suggesting an adaptation to predators via developmental plasticity. This was tested by exposing juveniles to the odor of a predatory fish over their development and comparing them to controls. No difference in spine length or sharpness was found between the experimental and control groups.

Other crayfish detect predators via an alarm cue, hemolymph, and exhibit avoidant behavior in response. I hypothesized that Marmorkrebs would also treat hemolymph as an alarm cue. Adult crayfish were exposed to three conditions: food, fish odor, and hemolymph and recorded for behavioral measures. Results showed no difference across conditions indicating that Marmorkrebs do not use hemolymph or fish odor as cues.

Keywords: None provided.