Meeting Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity is a key adaptation for organisms facing a variable environment. In animals, behavioural innovation can contribute substantially to such plasticity. An increasingly common approach to studying behavioural innovation has been to assess problem-solving abilities when an animal is challenged with an extractive foraging task. Most studies to date have focused on vertebrates. However, invertebrates with variable prey types and that have diverse motor capabilities could also benefit from behavioural innovation in foraging. The American Lobster, Homarus americanus, is an omnivorous generalist that inhabits variety of benthic environments with a broad array of potential diet items and that also demonstrates a wide range of motor capabilities. Thus, our goal was study behavioural innovation in this species by testing the problem-solving behaviours of lobsters performing an extractive-foraging task in the field. We constructed solvable-task containers that were baited with Sebastes marinus, a common bait used in the lobster fishing industry. The baited container was attached below a tripod deployed in lobster habitat. A downwards-facing camera on the tripod recorded the lobsters’ behaviours. We are developing an ethogram of foraging behaviours from the videos, and are quantifying the frequency and duration of different behaviours in advance of solving the task. If behavioural innovation contributes to foraging success in lobsters, larger (i.e. older) lobsters should be more adept at solving the task than smaller (i.e. younger) lobsters and/or should do so with a greater variety of behaviours. Our findings will improve understanding of problem-solving abilities of crustaceans, and contribute towards a more comprehensive view of behavioural innovation across animal phyla.
