Abstract

Invasive species are one of the main threats to biodiversity. In the Tyrol region (Austria), a population of native and endangered stone crayfish, Austropotamobius torrentium (Schrank), is threatened by the white-clawed crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes (Lereboullet), which has been introduced to the same area and is now invading the habitat of the former species. Direct interactions between animals of the same size were analysed, as well as competition for limited resources, shelter and food. Our experiments did not confirm the hypothesis that white-clawed crayfish are competitively superior to stone crayfish. In male-male confrontations, stone crayfish were dominant over white-clawed crayfish and could defend a limited shelter against the opponent. Furthermore, feeding success was not influenced by previous dominance.

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