Breeding in the crayfish,Austropotamobius pallipes:mating patterns, mate choice and intermale competition

Abstract

Summary 1. The breeding behaviour of the white‐clawed crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes, which is in decline throughout Europe, was analysed. 2. Observations and experiments focused on: (i) several aspects of mating behaviour, showing the primary role of the female during courtship, the patterns of mature male receptivity and the possible existence of a mating stimulus produced by either a mating pair or a receptive female; (ii) the potential for mate choice either by males (males were not choosy, mating with the first receptive female they met) or by females (that rejected the smallest males and males with only one cheliped) and (iii) intermale fighting before copulation (larger males copulated more often, with the exception of some ’sneakers‘). 3. Sperm competition occurred when a new male was presented with a female after a previous male‘s spermatophore had been deposited; the new male cleaned the rival male‘s spermatophore by feeding on it before copulation. This behaviour has also been observed in some pseudoscorpions, millipedes and collembolans, but always in cases where the spermatophore is deposited on the substratum. Introduction

Genetic diversity among red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) populations in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River based on AFLP markers

“…Because crayfish are highly fecund and can produce more than 200 eggs at each spawning (Rodríguez-Serna et al, 2000), mating between relatives is highly possible. Villanelli and Gherardi (1998) have reported that nonrandom mating and mate choice have been noted in some freshwater crayfish species. Therefore, we cannot conclude that the gene diversity within each population observed in this study was caused by a bottleneck effect and nonrandom mating.…”

Distribution and Reproductive Biology of Austropotamobius Torrentium in Bavaria and Documentation of a Contact Zone With the Alien Crayfish Pacifastacus Leniusculus

“…The reason for the increase of chelar size is that they are closely linked to social behaviour, e.g. used during copulation and in competing for mates -A. pallipes female chooses the mate on the basis of his size and his potential dominance status - (VILLANELLI and GHERARDI, 1998).…”

Morphometry of the stone crayfish (Austropotamobius torrentium) in the Czech Republic: allometry and sexual dimorphism

“…Thus, bigger chelae increase reproductive success (e.g. Stein, 1976;Vilanelli and Gherardi, 1998). There are various statements concerning allometric chelae growth in juvenile and adult individuals in the above mentioned works.…”