Crayfish are important animals for the stability and health of freshwater ecosystems. Crayfish are nocturnal and some of them inhabit turbid waters. Therefore, they need a strong sensory organ supporting them in such an environment. Crayfish antennae are sensory organs necessary for obtaining information about the local topography and finding food and conspecifics or avoiding predators and contamination.
In this research, members of the Laboratory of Freshwater Ecosystems in the Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, in collaboration with the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Science, studied the morphology of this important sensory organ in six crayfish species using Cryo-scanning electron microscopy as a cutting-edge technology. Electron microscopy is a powerful instrument that can provide high-resolution pictures from small structures that cannot be observed using the naked eye and conventional light microscopy. Six species of crayfish from different species and habitats, including marbled crayfish Procambarus virginalis, Mexican dwarf crayfish Cambarellus patzcuarensis, red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii, signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus, common yabby Cherax destructor, and spiny-cheek crayfish Faxonius limosus were examined. In addition, some dimensions of antennae structure were measured and subjected to statistical analysis. It can be concluded that the diverse morphology of antennae may reflect the adaptation of animals to different habitat conditions. Moreover, results showed that the application of both the morphological features obtained by cryo-scanning electron microscopy and biometrical measurements of antennae are useful for the distinguishment of different crayfish species.
Detailed information can be found in the original article:
Kor, G., Mengal, K., Buřič, M., Kozák, P., Niksirat, H., 2023. Comparative ultrastructure of the antennae and sensory hairs in six species of crayfish. PeerJ 11: e15006 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15006
Figure: A general view of the morphology of antennae in six crayfish species. From the left: common yabby, red swamp crayfish, marbled crayfish, spin-cheek crayfish, Mexican dwarf crayfish, and signal crayfish.
Written by: Hamid Niksirat, Ph.D.
