Behavioural repertory of juveniles of the freshwater crab Poppiana dentata (Randall 1840) under laboratory conditions

Abstract

The behavioural repertory for Poppiana dentata has not been previously reported in literature. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the repertory of behaviours for juvenile P. dentata, under laboratory conditions. An ethogram was used to categorize activities into seven main behavioural acts; foraging, eating, grooming, locomotion, quiescence (inactive), prolonged agonism and non-agonistic contact. Juvenile daily behaviour (n = 12) were continuously recorded over 72 hr and the time durations for each behavioural act were determined from viewing video footage (n = 864 hr). Activities over 24 hr were derived from percent daily proportions of each behavioural act. Overall, juvenile crabs spent most of their time foraging (54.8%) and resting (quiescence; 25.4%), while they performed eating (11.1%), grooming (5.3%), locomotion (2.6%) and displayed agonism (0.8%) to a lesser extent. Diurnal differences between light and dark phases were significant for foraging, quiescence and eating (P < 0.05). Time spent on grooming, locomotion and prolonged agonism were higher in the light phase versus the dark but these photoperiodic variations were not significant (P > 0.05). High occurrences of non-agonistic contact were similarly observed for light (101 events) and dark (93 events) phases, reflecting a gregarious nature for the juvenile stage of P. dentata. This behavioural repertory represents the first ethological description reported for the species.

KEY WORDS:

• behavioural repertoire
• juvenile behaviour
• Poppiana dentata
• trichodactylid
• Trinidad

HIGHLIGHTS

1. This is the first description of behaviour for juvenile Poppiana dentata.

2. Foraging and quiescence were the main activities recorded.

3. Juvenile crabs compensated for energy spent on foraging, through resting.

4. Frequent non-agonistic contact reflected a gregarious nature for juvenile crabs

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank the farmers of Bamboo Settlement in Trinidad for allowing access to the collection site. Deepest gratitude is also extended to Raquel Khan Ali, Inesha Moonwah and the Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology (The University of the West Indies St Augustine) for data acquisition assistance and laboratory support.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.