Date of Award
5-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
College/School
College of Science and Mathematics
Department/Program
Biology
Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair
Scott Kight
Committee Member
Paul Bologna
Committee Member
Matthew Aardema
Abstract
Freshwater bivalves provide important ecosystem services, like filtering water and cycling nutrients. Predators affecting the behavior of bivalve prey, therefore, could potentially impact the structure and function of ecological communities. Because little is known about the antipredator responses of sphaeriid clams, I examined the behavior of juvenile and adult freshwater clams, Sphaerium simile, when exposed to two types of indirect predator cues: effluent of a crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) and damaged conspecific clams. Adult clams responded to crayfish effluent by significantly reducing burrowing behavior. Juvenile clams, however, buried indiscriminately regardless of experimental treatment and significantly more often/more quickly than adults. These results suggest that invasive crayfish predators could cause reduction in adult S. simile activity that in turn might affect community and ecosystem function.
File Format
Recommended Citation
Eichler, Jesse Bruce, "Do Indirect Predator Cues Affect Behavior of the Freshwater Clam Sphaerium simile?" (2019). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 283.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/283