Effect of Site on Aggressive Behavior in Procambarus clarkii
Presentation Type
Poster
Keywords
Invasive, Aggression, site, crayfish
Department
Biology
Major
Biology
Abstract
Red-swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) are an invasive species present in the Santa Monica mountains freshwater streams. Previous studies have observed the aggressive behavior of crayfish amongst one another, but none have considered the effect a difference in site has on levels of aggression. This study was designed to contrast the number of aggressive interactions between crayfish from the same site to crayfish of different sites. The two sites used were Malibu Golf Course and Piuma Canyon. It was important to control for size and sex of the crayfish. For size, we made sure that the crayfish used in each trial were within one centimeter in length, and for sex we made sure that all crayfish used were males. We recorded the number of aggressive interactions between crayfish from Malibu Golf Course (MGC), and compared that to the number of aggressive interactions between crayfish from MGC and Piuma. Our group hypothesized that crayfish from different streams would act more aggressively than crayfish from the same stream, because those from different streams have not previously interacted with one another. The data from our experiment show that crayfish from different sites interact with each other more aggressively, telling us that site contributes to aggressive behavior in crayfish.
Faculty Mentor
Lee Kats
Funding Source or Research Program
Not Identified
Location
Waves Cafeteria
Start Date
24-3-2017 2:00 PM
End Date
24-3-2017 3:00 PM
Effect of Site on Aggressive Behavior in Procambarus clarkii
Waves Cafeteria
Red-swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) are an invasive species present in the Santa Monica mountains freshwater streams. Previous studies have observed the aggressive behavior of crayfish amongst one another, but none have considered the effect a difference in site has on levels of aggression. This study was designed to contrast the number of aggressive interactions between crayfish from the same site to crayfish of different sites. The two sites used were Malibu Golf Course and Piuma Canyon. It was important to control for size and sex of the crayfish. For size, we made sure that the crayfish used in each trial were within one centimeter in length, and for sex we made sure that all crayfish used were males. We recorded the number of aggressive interactions between crayfish from Malibu Golf Course (MGC), and compared that to the number of aggressive interactions between crayfish from MGC and Piuma. Our group hypothesized that crayfish from different streams would act more aggressively than crayfish from the same stream, because those from different streams have not previously interacted with one another. The data from our experiment show that crayfish from different sites interact with each other more aggressively, telling us that site contributes to aggressive behavior in crayfish.