The effect of the chemical environment on interactions in groups of crayfish

Abstract

Most of our knowledge of social behaviour in crustaceans stems from observations of pairs of animals engaged in conflict. Less consideration has been given to the dynamics of group behaviour. We investigated whether chemical signals affect the dynamic of groups of Cherax destructor. Animals were exposed to odours collected from male, female, moulted or dominant crayfish, or from fish. We observed agonistic encounters in the group during a 15 min period after the introduction of the odour. There was a decrease in threat behaviours when the male odour was added. We conclude from this that an olfactory stimulus can affect the dynamic of group interactions and the results suggest that the outcome is likely to be different from that obtained with paired or single individuals.

Keywords:

• Chemical stimuli
• odours
• urine
• fish
• behaviour
• group interactions
• Cherax destructor

Acknowledgements

We thank the attendees of ChEAS 2006 for their discussions on this topic during the conference and subsequent emails. Funding was supplied by Australian Research Council Discovery Grant to D.L.M.