Psychology Commons^™

Impact Of An Ecological Factor On The Costs Of Resource Acquisition: Fighting And Metabolic Physiology Of Crabs, L. U. Sneddon, F. A. Huntingford, A. C. Taylor

Ethology Collection

1. Current game theory models and recent experimental evidence suggests that the strategy an animal adopts in agonistic encounters is determined by individual state. Therefore manipulation of an individual’s state should elicit different behavioural responses. In this paper, mechanisms are examined that underlie state-dependent strategies using Shore Crabs, Carcinus maenas, and how, by altering the environment, behaviour and physiology are affected.
2. Fights were staged between pairs of male crabs under normoxic and severely hypoxic (< 15 torr) conditions to determine if the metabolic costs of fighting and resource acquisition are affected by water P_O2. After fighting, blood and tissue samples from each crab were taken and analysed for metabolites associated with anaerobiosis (L-lactate, glucose and glycogen).
3. The spectrum …