Abstract
Invertebrates are a very diverse group of animals, showing a wide spectrum of life strategies and adaptations. They often exhibit very complex behavioural and social patterns. In crayfish, the largest freshwater invertebrates, we found a new behavioural pattern, burying their own exuviae after moulting. Such a pattern may be an as yet unrecognized type of hoarding or caching. The buried exuvia is exhumed after 2 or 3 days (when the crayfish body is no longer as soft) and consumed. This behaviour is probably self-protective (hiding the mark of a helpless prey), as well as having mineral storage reasons. Such complex behavioural patterns in invertebrates present new challenges for future research.
Highlights
Caching or hoarding behaviour is well known, in mammals (Prestrud 1991; VanderWall and Jenkins 2003) and birds (Bugnyar and Kotrschal 2002; Emery and Clayton 2001), as a type of appetitive behaviour characterized by foraging and carrying food from the source to a hidden place for a period before it is consumed (Schneider et al 2013; VanderWall 1990)
Food storage may be induced by a period of starvation, as in decapod crustaceans (Kim 2010; Wickins et al 1996), or by specific life traits as in leafcutter ants (Mueller et al 2011) or spiders
During acclimation of two crayfish species prior to experimental work unexpected evidence was found of undescribed behaviour in invertebrates
Summary
Caching or hoarding behaviour is well known, in mammals (Prestrud 1991; VanderWall and Jenkins 2003) and birds (Bugnyar and Kotrschal 2002; Emery and Clayton 2001), as a type of appetitive behaviour characterized by foraging and carrying food from the source to a hidden place for a period before it is consumed (Schneider et al 2013; VanderWall 1990) Such behaviour is usually induced by the need of a food supply for specific unfavourable conditions e.g. winter season, when food sources are not available or considerably limited (Vander Wall 1990). Present work should outline the new hypothesis and challenges in research of invertebrate behavioural patterns
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