Meeting Abstract
Animals possess a variety of weapons that can displace and intimidate opponents during aggressive interactions. In many cases, severe injuries and damage can occur during these fights. In some species, such as a crustaceans and leaf-footed bugs, weapons are autotomized to escape predators or flee from a stronger opponent. In crayfish specifically, an autotomized claw can be regenerated and return to a similar size, but differently morphology when compared to a normal claw. Despite crayfish being model organisms for communication and aggression, it is unknown whether there are functional and structural consequences to wielding regenerated weapons. Thus, we investigated the offense performance (claw strength) and defensive capacity (cuticle thickness) of regenerated and non-regenerated claws of virile crayfish (Faxonius virilis). We found that despite regenerated claws being capable of growing to a same size as a normal claw, they produce on average 5 newtons weaker of force. Surprisingly, despite the reduction in maximum pinching force of a regenerated claw, we did not detect any impact of regeneration in pinching stamina trials. Furthermore, we found that the cuticle thickness of regenerated claws was like that of a normal claw.
