Abstract

The freshwater crayfish Orconectes limosus (Rafinesque) is an omnivorous species, but at high density may prefer cannibalism. The aim of this experiment was to investigate if there was any difference in the type and quantity of food consumed by crayfish at two different temperatures (12°C and 18°C). Animals were collected at South-West part of The Vistula Lagoon near The Nogat River (Poland). After a period of acclimatisation to the experimental temperatures, four different types of food were supplied to the crayfish: animal based (cod, and crayfish abdominal muscle), and vegetable based (green algae, and granulate fodder). Food consumption rates were calculated on the basis of the formula given by Klekowski and Fischer (1993). No differences were observed in the type of food consumed at both temperatures, and at both temperatures the most preferred food was fodder (average consumption in 18°C - C1=388.44 J·indiv-1·h-1; average consumption in 12°C - C2=308.72 J·indiv-1·h-1 respectively), followed by crayfish abdominal muscle (C1=217.80 J·indiv-1·h-1, C2=228.70 J·indiv.-1·h-1 ), green algae (C1=50.88 J·indiv-1·h-1;C2=43.77 J·indiv-1·h-1) and finally cod(C1=19.59 J·indiv-1·h-1; C2=15.02 J·indiv-1·h-1). Higher consumption of all food types was at 18°C compared to 12°C, but there was no significant difference.

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