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Article History

Received: 26 April 2024

Revised: 18 June 2025

Accepted: 28 July 2025

First Online: 2 September 2025

Declarations

:

: Not applicable.

: The author declares no competing interests.

: Prey animals respond to danger with alterations to behavior that may have broader impacts on the population and community. Reponses to fear should be a function of the costs and benefits of risky activities, which may vary over time and between individuals. Freshwater crayfish generally respond to alarm cues but how individual decisions are made in response to risk is not well understood. I compared risk responses in crayfish to identify differences based on sex and reproductive status and found that, while all crayfish responded to risk by reducing foraging behavior, there were differences based on both sex and reproductive status. Reproductive males showed the greatest response to alarm cues, possibly reflecting differences in energetic requirements among groups. Thus, a full understanding of predator/prey interactions requires an evaluation of the factors affecting how individual prey respond to fear.