Date of Submission

Spring 2023

Academic Program

Biology

Project Advisor 1

Kathryn Anderson

Abstract/Artist's Statement

While cannibalistic behavior is natural in many species, cannibalism among reared animals can present significant problems in the ever-expanding aquaculture industry. This is especially true with aggressive decapod crustaceans like crayfish. Prior research has identified several factors that can reduce cannibalistic and aggressive behavior, including food quantity, stocking density, and shelter availability. One variable that has been known to impact both aggression and activity levels in crayfish is light regime. In this study, I manipulated light regime to look for an effect on aggressive behavior in juveniles of two crayfish species, the virile crayfish (Faxonius virilis) and the white river crayfish (Procambarus acutus). Although increasing the hours of light per day significantly reduced activity levels in both crayfish species, there was no significant effect on overall aggression, suggesting that the extent of aggressive behavior in crayfish is not directly related to activity.

Open Access Agreement

On-Campus only

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Download

This work is protected by a Creative Commons license. Any use not permitted under that license is prohibited.

Bard Off-campus Download

Bard College faculty, staff, and students can login from off-campus by clicking on the Off-campus Download button and entering their Bard username and password.

Share

COinS