Abstract:
The expression of an individual animal’s behaviour can be placed along many different personality
spectra. Parasite load can alter animal behaviour and, thus, fitness. The personality traits of rusty
crayfish, Faxonius rusticus, were analysed in three different behavioural contexts: foraging, exploration, and threatened. Each crayfish was tested in each context 3 times, giving a total of 9 assays
per crayfish. After assays were completed, crayfish were dissected, and the hepatopancreas of each
crayfish was photo analysed to determine the parasite load of the trematode, Microphallus spp. A
composite personality score for each assay and parasite load was loaded into a PCA. The PCA
model showed that as parasite load increased, crayfish became bolder in threatening contexts and
less exploratory in novel environments, whether or not a food stimulus was present. Thus, parasite
load alters the placement of crayfish on different personality spectra, but this change is context
specific.
Data and Resources
- data for Parasites differentially impact crayfish personality in different contextsxlsx
complete and final data set for this manuscript. The file contains a...
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Field | Value |
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Publisher | |
Modified | 2023-08-14 |
Release Date | 2023-02-09 |
Spatial / Geographical Coverage Area | POINT (-84.751227004454 45.564032872011) |
Temporal Coverage | Friday, May 1, 2020 - 00:00 to Monday, August 17, 2020 - 00:00 |
Author | |
Contact Name | Paul A. Moore |
Contact Email | |
Public Access Level | Public |
Publication Date:
Thursday, February 9, 2023