Potential impacts of invasive crayfish on native benthic fish: shelter use and agonistic behaviour

Spinycheek crayfish (Faxonius limosus) and signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) are successful North American invasive crayfish species distributed throughout Europe. Both species compete with native ben-thic fish for shelter. In a laboratory approach, we assessed competition for shelter and antagonistic interac-tions between these invasive crayfish species and the native benthic fish species, stone loach (Barbatula barbatula) and bullhead (Cottus gobio). This allows for studying the potential impacts of invasive crayfish on native benthic fish. Spinycheek crayfish and signal crayfish were able to gain control of the shelter and could successfully displace both benthic fish species. For stone loach, the presence of crayfish significantly decreased their shelter use and caused several behavioural changes such as reduced activity and increased hiding behaviour outside the shelter. Although the shelter use by bullheads was not reduced, they dis-played similar behavioural changes, if less intense. Invasive crayfish species showed remarkable combative interactions against both species of benthic fishes, evidenced by the high number of aggressive interac-tions, especially concerning stone loach. Our results highlight the pronounced dominance of invasive crayfish over benthic fish in terms of shelter competition and aggressive interactions under laboratory conditions, which consequently might promote the latter's exposure to predation.

Automated summary

Spinycheek crayfish and signal crayfish, both North American invasive species, compete with native benthic fish for shelter in Europe. In a laboratory study, it was found that these invasive crayfish were able to displace the native stone loach and bullhead, gaining control of the shelter. The presence of crayfish significantly decreased shelter use and caused behavioral changes in the benthic fish.