Physiological and agonistic behavioural response of Procambarus clarkii to an acoustic stimulus.

This study examined the effects of an acoustic stimulus on the haemolymph and agonistic behaviour of the red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii. The experiment was conducted in a tank equipped with a video recording system using six groups (three control and three test groups) of five adult crayfish (30 specimens in total). After 1 h of habituation, the behaviour of the crayfish was monitored for 2h. During the second hour, the animals in the test groups were exposed to a linear sweep (frequency range 0.1-25kHz; peak amplitude l48dB_rmsre. 1 μPa at 12kHz) acoustic stimulus for 30mm. Exposure to the noise produced significant variations in haemato-immunological parameters as well as a reduction in agonistic behaviour. Key words: acoustic stress. aaonistic behaviour. ohvsioloaical resoonse. red swamo crayfish [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]