title: Crayfish bury their own exuviae: a newly discovered behavioral pattern in decapods.
abstract: Invertebrates are a very diverse group of animals, showing a wide spectrum of life strategies and adaptations. They often exhibit very complex behavioural and social patterns. In crayfish, the largest freshwater invertebrates, we found a new behavioural pattern, burying their own exuviae after moulting. Such a pattern may be an as yet unrecognized type of hoarding or caching. The buried exuvia is exhumed after 2 or 3 days (when the crayfish body is no longer as soft) and consumed. This behaviour is probably self-protective (hiding the mark of a helpless prey), as well as having mineral storage reasons. Such complex behavioural patterns in invertebrates present new challenges for future research.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Vodňany, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Miloš
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buřič
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Vodňany, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fořt
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Vodňany, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bláha
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Vodňany, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Lukáš
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Veselý
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Vodňany, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kozák
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Vodňany, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Antonín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kouba
keywords: Behaviour; Caching; Crayfish; Crustacean; Hoarding; Invertebrate