Procedures were developed to isolate basolateral membrane vesicles (BLMV) from gill, hepatopancreas, and antennal gland of intermolt freshwater crayfish, Procambarus clarkii. Individual procedures involved a discontinuous sucrose gradient (gill), a 65% sucrose cushion (hepatopancreas), or differential centrifugation (antennal gland). BLMV were visualized, characterized (37°C), and tested for os...

In the period before spawning, freshwater crayfish females develop glair glands on the underside of the pleon. These glands produce the mucus for a transient tent-like structure in which the eggs are fertilized and attached to the pleopods. Long-term observation of females of the bisexually reproducing slough crayfish, Procambarus fallax, kept in captivity revealed that glair glands developed i...

The kinematic patterns of defense turning behavior in freely behaving specimens of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii were investigated with the aid of a video-analysis system. Movements of the body and all pereiopods, except the chelipeds, were analyzed. Because this behavior approximates to a rotation in place, this analysis extends previous studies on straight and curve walking in crustaceans....

The morphologies of the cerebral ganglia (brains) of three infraorders of the decapod crustaceans (Astacura-crayfish; Brachyura-crabs; Palinura-spiny lobsters) are described. A common nomenclature is proposed for homologous nerve roots, brain regions, tracts, commissures, neuropils, and cell body clusters.

The distribution and status of native and non-native crayfish are monitored across hundreds of lakes in Ontario (Canada). However, a corresponding effort has not been undertaken in flowing waters. Reliable and efficient sampling methods are essential for the detection of new aquatic invaders and tracking the spread of existing invasive species. In this study, a recent dataset for the invasive r...

Crayfish carapace, a plentiful waste in China, was applied to remove divalent heavy metal ions—copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), and lead (Pb)—from wastewater. The adsorption capacities of crayfish carapace micro-powder (CCM) for heavy metal ions were studied with adsorbent dosages ranging from 0.5–2.5 g/L and with initial metal concentrations ranging from 50–250 mg/L. CCM particle size, in...

A novel disease of crayfish Procambarus clarkii appeared in the summer of 2004 in freshwater aquaculture in Jiangsu province of China. Light and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), molecular biological methods and in vitro culture were used to identify the pathogen. The agent was unique in having a helical morphology and rotary motility as observed by phase-contrast light microscopy and was...

To mitigate eutrophication in fresh standing waters the focus is on phosphorus (P) control, i.e. on P inflows to a lake as well as a lake's sediment as internal P source. The in-lake application of the lanthanum (La) modified clays - i.e. La modified bentonite (Phoslock) or La modified kaolinite, aim at dephosphatising the water column and at reducing the release of P from a lake's sediment. Ap...

In the freshwater environment species often rely on chemosensory information to modulate behavior. The pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, is a model species used to characterize the causal mechanisms of long-term memory (LTM) formation. Chemical stressors including crayfish kairomones and KCl enhance LTM formation (≥24 h) in Lymnaea; however, how these stressors are sensed and the mechanism by whic...

The antennular flagella of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii each possess a linear array of near-field receptors, termed standing feathered sensilla, that are extremely sensitive to movement of the surrounding water. Previously it had been shown that, within each flagellum, the axonal conduction velocity of the sensory neuron pair associated with each feathered sensillum was linearly related to ...