Behavioural determinants of agonistic success in invasive crayfish

Ecosystems today increasingly suffer invasions by multiple invasive species, some of which may share similar advantageous life history traits and ecological niche. In such cases, direct competition can influence invasion success of both species, and provide insights into competition without co-evolution in species equally novel to the environment. We used two widespread crayfish invaders of freshwater ecosystems of Europe, signal crayfish (pacifastacus leniusculus) and spiny cheek crayfish (Orconectes limosus), to investigate how behavioural decisions in agonistic encounters contribute to competitive advantages in the absence of adaptation to either opponents or an environment. In direct competition against novel but comparable opponents, the key factor for establishing clear dominance of P. leniusculus in interspecific bouts was its greater tendency towards continued engagement in high-intensity fights. With O. limosus individuals consistently retreating from staged bouts as fights became more intense, P. leniusculus individuals did not need to adapt their strategy to be successful, suggesting that their agonistic behaviour intrinsically predisposed them to win. While both species are detrimental to invaded ecosystems, our results indicate that aggressive behaviour of P. leniusculus against unfamiliar opponents could allow it to more easily outcompete other comparable species and consequently present a potentially greater threat for native ecosystems. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.