Analysis of Physella acuta Behavior from Pond and Stream Populations

• Audrey McNeely

  Juniata College

  Author

This study explores the behavioral ecology of Physella acuta from two different populations when exposed to a crayfish predator. One population, the stream population, has been exposed to this crayfish in the wild, whereas the other population, the pond population, is naïve to this particular predator. The goal of this project was to identify if the predator naïve population recognized the crayfish as a threat, and if so if they would behave differently. We found that neither population recognized this particular crayfish as a threat, likely because of the fact that it was a juvenile. The p-value of the population as a source of variance was .907, far above the typical alpha. However, we did find that snails from the pond population were significantly more likely to float at the surface of the water. The p-value of the source population as a source of variance in float data was .00047. This likely means that aquatic snails from pond ecosystems rely on their float response more often than those in systems with running water.

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