Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Zátiší 728/II, 389 25, Vodňany, Czech Republic.
Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 28;13(1):12265. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-39406-w.
In this study, we experimentally evaluated how the feeding behaviour of marbled crayfish Procambarus virginalis is influenced by cues from conspecifics and the round goby Neogobius melanostomus, a fish predator, in tanks that permitted chemical communication but not visual recognition. We used four experimental groups with different combinations in two sub-tanks. The first sub-tank always contained a crayfish and prey (40 individuals of the water louse Asellus aquaticus). The other sub-tanks were set up as follows: (i) empty, serving as a control (C); (ii) with a conspecific crayfish (Cr); (iii) with a round goby (G) to simulate predator-only odour; and (iv) a round goby and three small conspecific crayfish (G + Cr) to simulate the presence of a predator and/or the alarm odour. Two sub-treatments were defined for the fourth group, categorised as 'injured' or 'not injured' depending on whether prey crayfish were visibly injured or not, respectively. We observed a significant decline in the consumption of water lice in the G and G + Cr treatments compared to the C and Cr treatments (up to 47% on average). There were no significant differences in consumption between the G and G + Cr treatments, or C and Cr treatments. No significant differences in food consumption parameters were detected between sub-treatments with 'injured' and 'not injured' conspecific crayfish. Knowledge of modifications in the feeding behaviour of marbled crayfish in the presence of round goby (and fish predators in general) is essential for ecologists attempting to understand the changes and impacts occurring in invaded freshwater ecosystems.
在这项研究中，我们通过实验评估了大理石纹螯虾 Procambarus virginalis 的摄食行为如何受到同种个体和鱼类捕食者圆尾拟鲿 Neogobius melanostomus 的信号影响，实验在允许化学通讯但不允许视觉识别的水箱中进行。我们使用四个具有不同组合的实验组，在两个亚水箱中进行实验。第一个亚水箱中始终包含一只螯虾和猎物（40 只水蚤 Asellus aquaticus）。其他亚水箱的设置如下：（i）空的，作为对照（C）；（ii）有一只同种螯虾（Cr）；（iii）有一只圆尾拟鲿（G），以模拟仅存在捕食者的气味；（iv）一只圆尾拟鲿和三只小的同种螯虾（G + Cr），以模拟存在捕食者和/或警报气味。第四组被定义为两个亚处理，根据猎物螯虾是否可见受伤，分别归类为“受伤”或“未受伤”。与 C 和 Cr 处理相比，G 和 G + Cr 处理的水蚤摄入量显著下降（平均下降 47%）。G 和 G + Cr 处理之间以及 C 和 Cr 处理之间的摄入量没有显著差异。在受伤和未受伤的同种螯虾亚处理之间，食物消耗参数没有显著差异。了解圆尾拟鲿（以及一般鱼类捕食者）存在时大理石纹螯虾摄食行为的变化对于试图理解入侵淡水生态系统中发生的变化和影响的生态学家来说是必不可少的。
