Behavioral endpoints are important parameters to assess the effects of toxicants and other stressors on natural ecosystems. The relevance of these parameters has caused a rise in their use in aquatic ecotoxicology. However, abiotic and biotic parameters may interact causing changes in the behavioral responses. Among those parameters, starvation of animals is a factor that is usually applied in ecotoxicological short-term bioassays. This could alter animal behavior, along with the toxicant. Therefore, the study of the effects of starvation on baseline behaviors of invertebrates is a relevant issue. This study assessed the behavior of the aquatic snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum under a combination of four treatments: (1) animals normally fed (control treatment), (2) starved animals, (3) animals normally fed and exposed to a high conductivity, and (4) starved animals exposed to a high conductivity. The behavior activity of snails was monitored for 14 days. Results show that animals of the second treatment (starved animals) increased their activity. On the contrary, animals of the third and fourth treatments reduced their activity. Animals from the control treatment showed an activity in between starved animals and animals exposed to high conductivity (both starved and normally fed). These results show that starvation increases the snail activity, but under another environmental stressor (i.e., high conductivity), this trend was reversed. The influence of starvation on behavior should be taken into account in the development of behavioral bioassays.

行为终点是评估有毒物质和其他应激源对自然生态系统影响的重要参数。这些参数的相关性已导致其在水生生态毒理学中的使用增加。但是，非生物和生物参数可能相互作用，从而导致行为响应发生变化。在这些参数中，动物饥饿是通常在生态毒理学短期生物测定中应用的一个因素。这可能会改变动物的行为以及有毒物质。因此，研究饥饿对无脊椎动物基线行为的影响是一个相关的问题。这项研究评估了水生蜗牛Potamopyrgus antipodarum的行为在四种处理的组合下：（1）正常喂养的动物（对照处理），（2）饥饿的动物，（3）正常喂养的动物和暴露于高电导率的动物，以及（4）饥饿的动物暴露于高电导率的动物。监测蜗牛的行为活动14天。结果表明，第二种治疗的动物（饥饿的动物）增加了它们的活性。相反，第三和第四治疗的动物降低了它们的活性。来自对照处理的动物在饥饿的动物和暴露于高电导率的动物（饥饿和正常喂养）之间表现出活性。这些结果表明，饥饿增加了蜗牛的活动，但是在另一个环境压力下（即高电导率），这种趋势被逆转了。