Hierarchical decision making: resource distribution exhibits stronger effect on crayfish dominance relationships and shelter occupation than prior social experience and resource ownership

The outcome of agonistic interactions is critical to the acquisition of vital resources. These behaviours can be influenced by several intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and multi-faceted studies are necessary for ecologically relevant studies. The aim of this study was to combine the effects of past social experience, resource ownership, and the distribution of shelter resources to examine the combination of these effects on various measures of agonism in crayfish (Orconectes rusticus). Crayfish were assigned to one of three social conditioning treatments (naive, subordinate, dominant) and then introduced to an arena where they were assigned to a resident or intruder treatment. An intruder shelter was then positioned 20, 60 or 120 cm from the resident shelter. We found that resource distribution (shelter distance) played a larger role in influencing agonistic behaviour than did past social experience or current social status.