Living on the edge: Crayfish as drivers to anoxification of their own shelter microenvironment.

Burrowing is a common trait among crayfish thought to help species deal with adverse environmental challenges. However, little is known about the microhabitat ecology of crayfish taxa in relation to their burrows. To fill this knowledge gap, we assessed the availability of oxygen inside the crayfish shelter by series of in-vivo and in-silico modelling experiments.

Effect of psychoactive substances on cardiac and locomotory activity of juvenile marbled crayfish Procambarus virginalis.

Pharmaceutically active compounds are common and increasing in the aquatic environment. Evidence suggests they have adverse effects on non-target organisms, and they are classified as emerging pollutants for a variety of aquatic organisms. To determine the effects of environmentally relevant levels of psychoactive compounds on non-target organisms, we analyzed cardiac and locomotory activity in early developmental stages of marbled crayfish Procambarus virginalis.

Short-term effects of an environmentally relevant concentration of organic UV filters on signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus.

Personal care products, including organic UV filters, are considered emerging contaminants, with their toxic effects being a concern in recent decades. UV filters continually enter surface waters via wastewater and human activity. Despite the presence of organic UV filters in the freshwater environment, little is known of their impact on aquatic biota.

Responses of signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus to single short-term pulse exposure of pesticides at environmentally relevant concentrations.

Although pesticides are often discharged into surface waters in pulses as opposed to a sustained release, the effect of episodic pollution events on freshwater crayfish is largely unknown. We monitored change in heart rate and distance moved to assess the response of signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus to short-term exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of metazachlor (MTZ), terbuthylazine (TER), and thiacloprid (TCL). Crayfish exposed to 20 µg/L of MTZ exhibited a significant increase in mean heart rate and distance moved.

Cardiac and Locomotor Responses to Acute Stress in Signal Crayfish Exposed to Methamphetamine at an Environmentally Relevant Concentration.

Methamphetamine (METH), a central nervous system stimulant used as a recreational drug, is frequently found in surface waters at potentially harmful concentrations. To determine effects of long-term exposure to environmentally relevant levels on nontarget organisms, we analysed cardiac and locomotor responses of signal crayfish to acute stress during a 21-day exposure to METH at 1 μg L followed by 14 days depuration. Heart rate and locomotion were recorded over a period of 30 min before and 30 min after exposure to haemolymph of an injured conspecific four times during METH exposure and four times during the depuration phase.

Continuous Noninvasive Measuring of Crayfish Cardiac and Behavioral Activities.

A crayfish is a pivotal aquatic organism that serves both as a practical biological model for behavioral and physiological studies of invertebrates and as a useful biological indicator of water quality. Even though crayfish cannot directly specify the substances that cause water quality deterioration, they can immediately (within a few seconds) warn humans of water quality deterioration via acute changes in their cardiac and behavioral activities. In this study, we present a noninvasive method that is simple enough to be implemented under various conditions due to a combination of simplicity and reliability in one model.

Crayfish can distinguish between natural and chemical stimuli as assessed by cardiac and locomotor reactions.

In this study, cardiac and locomotor activities of signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus were investigated under exposure to a range of natural (i.e., odors of conspecific crayfish, predatory fish, food, and injured conspecific) and one chemical (i.

Investigation of chloramine-T impact on crayfish Astacus leptodactylus (Esch., 1823) cardiac activity.

The crayfish play an essential role in the biomonitoring and may reflect ambient water quality through the biochemical, behavioural and physiological reactions. To assess whether narrow-clawed crayfish Astacus leptodactylus can respond by heart rate changes to presence in water of such biocide as chloramine-T, adult males were exposed to its low (2 and 5 mg L(-1)), moderate (10 mg L(-1), commonly used in industry and aquaculture) and exceeded (20 and 50 mg L(-1)) concentrations. In addition, a physical stress test evaluated energy expenditure following the chemical trials.

Accumulation of heavy metals in crayfish and fish from selected Czech reservoirs.

To evaluate the accumulation of aluminium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc in crayfish and fish organ tissues, specimens from three drinking water reservoirs (Boskovice, Landštejn, and Nová Říše) and one contaminated site (Darkovské moře) in the Czech Republic were examined. Crayfish hepatopancreas was confirmed to be the primary accumulating site for the majority of metals (Cu > Zn > Ni > Cd > Cr), while Hg and Cr were concentrated in abdominal muscle, and Al and Pb were concentrated in gill. Metals found in Nová Říše specimens included Cu > Zn > Ni and those found in Boskovice included Zn > Hg > Cr.

Real-time monitoring of water quality using fish and crayfish as bio-indicators: a review.

Water quality monitoring using fish and crayfish as bio-indicators requires an understanding of the state of pollution of waters, choice of bio-indicators, physiological and behavioral endpoints of fish and crayfish, and principles of the methodology and their potential applications. Here, we discuss telemetry, acoustic monitoring, vision-based monitoring, measures of ventilatory activity, electrocardiography, and fiber-optic plethysmography. Assessment of water quality must be based, not only on physicochemical characteristics of the current environment as determined by chemical analyses, but also on observations of the physiology and behavior of its inhabitants.