caa a22 4500 445891521 CHVBK 20180317145618.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110101xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10750-010-0460-z doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10750-010-0460-z Fight or flight: an investigation of aggressive behavior and predator avoidance in two populations of blue crabs ( Callinectes sapidus Rathbun) in New Jersey [Elektronische Daten] [Jessica Reichmuth, James MacDonald, Jonathan Ramirez, Judith Weis] Recent literature has suggested aggression may be context dependent. The purpose of this investigation was to examine aggressive and predator avoidance behaviors in juvenile blue crabs of two populations. Furthermore, we wanted to determine whether aggression persisted into the adult stages. Juvenile blue crabs collected from an impacted estuary, the Hackensack Meadowlands (HM), were found to attack a threatening stimulus significantly more often (70%) than conspecifics from a less impacted estuary (Tuckerton—TK). TK juveniles responded significantly more often with a flight (~35%) or mixed response (~30%). Additionally, HM juveniles were significantly more successful than TK juveniles at avoiding an adult blue crab predator when sandy substrate was present in laboratory experiments. However, the video clarity made it impossible to determine which interactions were allowing survival. To determine if "aggression” exhibited by the HM juveniles was the reason for their enhanced survival, follow-up predator avoidance experiments were conducted without substrate and videotaped. The results of these experiments suggest that aggression per se is not the reason since aggressive juveniles were no more successful than non-aggressive individuals. The aggressive behavior exhibited by HM juveniles continues into the adult stages. This behavior may be important to recognize when estimating population size as well as local fishery efforts. Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2010 Aggression nationallicence Behavior nationallicence Blue crab nationallicence Callinectes sapidus nationallicence Predator avoidance nationallicence Reichmuth Jessica Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 195 University Avenue, 07102, Newark, NJ, USA aut MacDonald James New York Sea Grant, c/o NYS DEC, 47-40 21st Street, 11101, Long Island City, NY, USA aut Ramirez Jonathan Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 195 University Avenue, 07102, Newark, NJ, USA aut Weis Judith Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 195 University Avenue, 07102, Newark, NJ, USA aut Hydrobiologia Springer Netherlands 658/1(2011-01-01), 173-182 0018-8158 658:1<173 2011 658 10750 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0460-z text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0460-z text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Reichmuth Jessica Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 195 University Avenue, 07102, Newark, NJ, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- MacDonald James New York Sea Grant, c/o NYS DEC, 47-40 21st Street, 11101, Long Island City, NY, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ramirez Jonathan Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 195 University Avenue, 07102, Newark, NJ, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Weis Judith Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 195 University Avenue, 07102, Newark, NJ, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Hydrobiologia Springer Netherlands 658/1(2011-01-01), 173-182 0018-8158 658:1<173 2011 658 10750 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer