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Crayfish Essay

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Temperature had a direct effect on oxygen consumption of crayfish, Orconectes propinquus. Crayfish acclimated to warm temperature (20 to 25 C) had a mean mass of 8.25g +/- 1.05. Crayfish acclimated to cold temperature (3 to 5 C) had a mean mass of 10.61g +/- 0.77. Oxygen consumption rates of 30-60 minute treatments were used and there was no significant difference between the two different treatments (t=0.48, df=58, P=0.70). The data from 0-30 minutes were not used because the crayfish were disrupted by transportation and the data were not normally distributed. The Q10 value was 1.05, representing that there was full compensation for oxygen consumption for the crayfish at two different acclimated temperatures. The oxygen consumption of crayfish was not affected significantly by two different temperatures (Figure 1).

1. Discussion
Crayfish, Orconectes propinquus, are ectotherms that do not generate internal heat and rely on external temperatures to determine their body temperature. The crayfish we tested were found in Medway Creek and therefore undergo considerable temperature changes throughout the year. Since these crayfish are able to adapt to various temperatures allowing them to live in numerous places, their survival rate would be higher than many other organisms.
We performed an experiment on crayfish focusing on their metabolic rates, via oxygen consumption, at two acclimated temperatures. Crayfish were either acclimated to a warm temperature (20 to 25C) or to a

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