The Long-Term Effects of Varying Population Amount in Crayfish Societies.

Ayanna Bell, Yetta Thomas, Alex Martin, and Dr. Kaela S. Singleton, PhD

Agnes Scott College, Department of Biology, Class of 2022.

Crayfish, also known as crawfish, crawdads, rock lobsters, or mudbugs are from the Animalia kingdom and are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. The most common genera of North America include Procambarus, Orconectes, Faxonella, Cambarus, Cambarellus, and Pacifastacus¹. When in their natural habitat, crayfish mostly feed on decomposing animal matter or decayed leaves. In confinement, small fish, snails, algae, ham, carrots, or other crayfish, etc., can be served to them. They also eat any bacteria that may grow in their tank, which prevents the water from getting contaminated. Crayfish are a useful model for studying neuroscience due to their life expectancy and anatomical structure. Crayfish have a simple nervous system and have a limited amount of neurons compared to humans, allowing for easier manipulation to observe immediate results and long-term effects. Previous research has shown that crayfish become competitive with one another when a foreign crayfish is introduced to the population. Additionally, another crayfish means increased food competition, and therefore results in fighting over food. Thus, our hypothesis is that by increasing the number of crayfish in the tank, we will observe increased aggression in crayfish societies as a result of the overcrowding. 

Keywords: crayfish, crawfish, crawdads, population, size, amount, model ¹

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2019, March 20). Crayfish. Encyclopedia Britannica.