PMCID: PMC3411828This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Jonathan Grey

Michelle C. Jackson

Stephanie M. Carlson

PLoS ONE

English

PubMed

Crossref

‘Leaves and Eats Shoots’: Direct Terrestrial Feeding Can Supplement Invasive Red Swamp Crayfish in Times of Need

Grey Jonathan

Jackson Michelle C.

Public Library of Science (PLOS)

We used stable isotope analyses to characterise the feeding dynamics of a population of red swamp crayfish in Lake Naivasha, Kenya, after the crash of submerged macrophytes and associated macroinvertebrates, and during a natural drawdown of the lake water level. We expected a heavy reliance upon a diet of detrital matter to sustain the population as a consequence, and indeed, for the majority of the crayfish population caught from the lake, we saw a concomitant shift in isotopic values reflecting a dietary change. However, we also caught individual crayfish that had occupied the footprints of hippopotamus and effectively extended their range beyond the lake up to 40 m into the riparian zone. Isotopic analysis confirmed limited nocturnal observations that these individuals were consuming living terrestrial plants in the vicinity of the footprints. These are the first empirical data to demonstrate direct use of terrestrial resources by an aquatic crayfish species and further highlight the traits that make red swamp crayfish such opportunistic and successful invaders

Grey, J.

Jackson, M.

MPG.PuRe

"Leaves and eats shoots": direct terrestrial feeding can supplement invasive red swamp crayfish in times of need

We used stable isotope analyses to characterise the feeding dynamics of a population of red swamp crayfish in Lake Naivasha, Kenya, after the crash of submerged macrophytes and associated macroinvertebrates, and during a natural draw-down of the lake water level. We expected a heavy reliance upon a diet of detrital matter to sustain the population as a consequence, and indeed, for the majority of the crayfish population caught from the lake, we saw a concomitant shift in isotopic values reflecting a dietary change. However, we also caught individual crayfish that had occupied the footprints of hippopotamus and effectively extended their range beyond the lake up to 40 m into the riparian zone. Isotopic analysis confirmed limited nocturnal observations that these individuals were consuming living terrestrial plants in the vicinity of the footprints. These are the first empirical data to demonstrate direct use of terrestrial resources by an aquatic crayfish species and further highlight the traits that make red swamp crayfish such opportunistic and successful invaders

Michelle C Jackson

Directory of Open Access Journals

'Leaves and eats shoots': direct terrestrial feeding can supplement invasive red swamp crayfish in times of need.

Grey, J

Jackson, MC

Queen Mary Research Online

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'Leaves and Eats Shoots': Direct Terrestrial Feeding Can Supplement Invasive Red Swamp Crayfish in Times of Need

CiteSeerX

‘Leaves and Eats Shoots’: Direct Terrestrial Feeding Can Supplement Invasive Red Swamp Crayfish in Times of

Grey, Jonathan

Jackson, Michelle C

Lancaster E-Prints

'Leaves and eats shoots' : direct terrestrial feeding can supplement invasive red swamp crayfish in times of need

Case studies of alien crayfish in Europe. The status of crayfish populations in Spain and

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'Leaves and Eats Shoots': Direct Terrestrial Feeding Can Supplement Invasive Red Swamp Crayfish in Times of Need

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Public Library of Science (PLOS)

MPG.PuRe

MPG.PuRe

Directory of Open Access Journals

Queen Mary Research Online

CiteSeerX

Public Library of Science (PLOS)

Lancaster E-Prints