Behavioral ecology of the white-clawed crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes in a Tuscan stream: preliminary results.

A population of the white-clawed crayfish, Aostropotamobius pallipes, was studied throughout a one-year cycle along an Apennine stream in Tuscany. We describe several aspects of its behavioral ecology (population size and structure, sex-ratio, relative and absolute growth, activity, and biological cycle) and discuss the relationships among them. A comparison with the intensively cultivated North American crayfishes shows that A. pallipes has a longer life, less fecundity and slower growth, thus resembling more a K-selected species. Management regulations in Tuscany include restrictions on the harvesting season and the number and size of crayfish captured. However, these largely disregard the biology of the species. Therefore, we recommend a revision of the fishery rules based on the present biological knowledge of A. pallipes.