Meeting Abstract
In this study, we describe the production of sound by the white tubercled crayfish (Procambarus spiculifer). Despite the fact that much is known about the white tubercled crayfish’s life history, broad distribution, freshwater stream habitats, and vital role in food webs, there has been no documentation of sound production. While some studies have described sound production in the Astacoidea, they include a limited number of species. Two of those mechanisms include abdominal stridulation (Murray River crayfish, Eustacus armatus) and a beating motion of scaphognathites (red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii). While the mechanism of sound production by Procambarus spiculifer is still unknown, we were successful in recording the sounds they produce. These sounds were recorded by a piezoelectric hydrophone modified from an acoustic stringed instrument pickup. The sounds were digitally analyzed using WaverSurfer (waveform visualization, frequency and amplitude data) and Adobe Audition software (spectral and waveform analyses). Procambarus spiculifer produced sounds when physically manipulated by being held by the carapace and in the presence of conspecifics. The sounds these crayfish produced were high-pitched sounds that resemble chirps ranging from 3 kHz to 10 kHz. We are currently attempting to identify a mechanism for the production of sounds by performing gross dissections, stimulations, ligations and using high speed macrovideography of the abdomen, scaphognathites and various other functional body parts.
