Austin vs the Crayfish: Assessing crayfish chemosensory behavior in arena and flume settings.

Austin Humbrecht
Dr. Drew Sieg, Faculty Mentor

Most species lack a verbal language and rely on chemical stimuli to gather information about the environment such as the location of predators, prey, mates, or competitors. Crayfish are territorial omnivorous scavengers and will take most opportunities to feed that are presented to them, even on kin. Therefore, an individual would be able to chemically detect another living or dead crayfish and see it as either food to be drawn to or a warning of danger to avoid. In order to combat crayfish invasiveness, developments in attractants or repellants are highly valuable. In this study, we utilized flume and arena studies to assess the chemical tracking behavior of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii when exposed to attractant (food) or ambiguous (carapace) cues in physical or chemically extracted forms. Since numerous crayfish species have invaded aquatic environments, understanding their tracking behavior could assist in the development of chemically based control strategies.

Keywords: chemical ecology, chemosensory, flume study, arena study, behavioral study

Topic(s):Biology

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA