Meeting Abstract

95.3  Monday, Jan. 6 14:00  Battle of the Sexes: Male and female crayfish (Orconectes virilis) use the same type of assessment strategy in different ways WOFFORD, S.J.*; EARLEY, R.L.; MOORE, P.A.; Bowling Green State University, Ohio; University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; Bowling Green State University, Ohio sjwofford1@gmail.com

Agonistic behaviour is an important social aspect of animal behavior and the outcome of agonistic interactions is critical to the acquisition of resources such as food, shelter, and mates. During agonistic interactions, individual participants make behavioral decisions based on energy and time investment such as escalating the intensity of the interaction and whether to end the interaction by retreating. Each of these decisions can be informed through self-assessment (i.e., energy reserves, fight capability, size), cumulative assessment (i.e., components of self-assessment in addition to the effects of opponent-inflicted injury) or through some form of mutual assessment (i.e., comparative energy reserve, size differential). Female and male individuals can be expected to exhibit different assessment strategies due to contrasting energetic needs and resource values. In this study, we are examining the assessment strategies that crayfish (Orconectes virilis) employ during same and mixed sex fights. After a brief acclimation, two individuals (male-male, female-female, or male-female) were allowed to interact for 15 minutes. Video analysis was used to calculate fight duration and times spent at various intensity levels. Analysis indicates that male and female crayfish both appear to employ a type of self-assessment strategy. However, significant differences between the two groups indicate dissimilar types of self-assessment in place or, at least, differential information gathering during agonistic contests.