scholarly journals Size and sex bias in air-exposure behavior during low tide of the intertidal hermit crab Clibanarius virescens (Krauss, 1843) (Decapoda: Anomura: Diogenidae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akihiro Yoshikawa ◽  
Ryutaro Goto ◽  
Chiaki I Yasuda ◽  
Akira Asakura
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Size Range ◽  
Additive Model ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Rocky Shores ◽  
Air Exposure ◽  
Smoothing Factor ◽  
Tidal Pools ◽  
Warm Temperate

Abstract Many species of the hermit crab Clibanarius (Diogenidae) live on rocky shores of tropical and warm temperate regions. Some of these species are known to climb out from tidal pools onto rock surfaces exposed to air during low tide. The ecological significance of this behavior, however, remains unclear. We investigated the differences between air-exposed and non-air-exposed Clibanarius virescens (Krauss, 1843) in relation to their body size, sex, and infestation by three species of parasitic bopyrid isopods. Our generalized additive model (GAM) analyses showed a significant effect of the “smoothing factor” of the interaction between body size and sex for the occurrences of the “air-exposure behavior.” The presence of the ectoparasitic isopods did not affect the air-exposure behavior. Females of C. virescens showed a more distinct trend than in males, whereas air-exposure in both sexes had a peak in approximately 3.0–4.0 mm shield size (comparatively larger size in females, and middle-size in males) and decreased after this size range. Intraspecific and/or interspecific competition for shells may be intense in hermit crabs of this size range because of size overlap, and the individuals that carry suitable shells may avoid such competition by actively escaping from tide pools at low tide.

Behavioural Responses of Hermit Crabs to Shell Cues, Predator Haemolymph And Body Odour

1997 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 737-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Rittschof ◽  
Brian A. Hazlett
Keyword(s):  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Size Range ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Stone Crab ◽  
Major Response ◽  
Body Odour ◽  
Chemical Stimuli ◽  
Predator Odour

This study tested the hypothesis that predator odours alter behavioural responses of hermit crabs to other chemical stimuli. Stimuli that cause alarm and shell-related behaviour (hermit crab haemolymph and two gastropod flesh extracts), and stimuli that did not cause shell-related behaviour (sea-water and predator haemolymph) were used. Individual hermit crab responses to stimuli were observed in ambient sea-water and predator odour. In the absence of predator odour, hermit crab haemolymph and gastropod flesh extracts stimulated shell grasping behaviour. Locomotion was the major response to sea-water and stone crab haemolymph. Crabs behaved consistently when repeatedly exposed to a particular stimulus. In general, addition of predator odour to mixtures, resulted in decreased shell grasping and increased locomotion. Shell fit was a poor predictor of behaviour for the size range of crabs tested. Hermit crabs respond to, and discriminate, a variety of complex odour mixtures.

The Influence of Salinity on Behaviour and Oxygen Uptake of the Hermit Crab Pagurus Bernhardus L.

1980 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Davenport ◽  
P. M. C. F. Busschots ◽  
D. F. Cawthorne
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Uptake ◽  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Littoral Zone ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Rocky Shores ◽  
Terrestrial Runoff ◽  
Salinity Levels ◽  
Pagurus Bernhardus

Hermit crabs, Pagurus bernhardus L., are common inhabitants of the littoral zone where they may be found in pools and puddles on the lower and middle portions of rocky shores. Only small specimens are normally found between the tidemarks but large crabs are found sublittorally as deep as 450 m. Unlike many of the animals found at a similar level on the shore, such as mussels, barnacles and winkles, Pagurus does not penetrate estuaries to any great extent. However, the smaller animals found in the littoral zone are likely to encounter reduced salinity levels caused by rainfall and terrestrial runoff.

Effects of shell size fit on the efficacy of mate guarding behaviour in male hermit crabs

2004 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 1203-1208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenji Yoshino ◽  
Miho Ozawa ◽  
Seiji Goshima
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
The Body ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Contest Competition ◽  
Shell Size ◽  
Pagurus Filholi ◽  
Size Preference

Males of the hermit crab Pagurus filholi show pre-copulatory mate guarding behaviour to keep a receptive female from other rival males during the breeding season. Guarding males are often replaced by other males via contest competition. Shell size fit and shell species of males effects were investigated to see if their ability to defend females against rivals depends on their shell. Shell size fit and shell species of guarding males were experimentally manipulated and then, the males were allowed to guard a female and interact with rival males of various sizes. Contest outcomes depended on neither the shell size fit nor shell species of the guarding males, and depended on body size ratio between guarding and rival males. When the body size of guarding and rival males was similar, however, guarding males in large fitting shells defended their female mate significantly more often than those in small fitting shells. For Chlorostoma lischkei shells, small males preferred larger shells during the breeding season than after the breeding season. The plasticity in the shell size preference of small males suggests that they compensate for body size disadvantage in mating versus larger rivals and for higher defence ability of female mates versus similar sized rivals.

scholarly journals Effects of intertidal position on metabolism and behavior in the acorn barnacle, Balanus glandula

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kali M Horn ◽  
Michelle E Fournet ◽  
Kaitlin A Liautaud ◽  
Lynsey N Morton ◽  
Allie M Cyr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Food Availability ◽  
Intertidal Zone ◽  
Anaerobic Metabolism ◽  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Balanus Glandula ◽  
Metabolic Capacity ◽  
Air Exposure ◽  
Ldh Activity ◽  
Consumption Rates

Abstract The intertidal zone is characterized by persistent, tidally-driven fluctuations in both abiotic (e.g., temperature, [O2], salinity) and biotic (e.g., food availability, predation) factors, which make this a physiologically challenging habitat for resident organisms. The relative magnitude and degree of variability of environmental stress differs between intertidal zones, with the most extreme physiological stress often being experienced by organisms in the high intertidal. Given that so many of the constantly shifting parameters in this habitat are primary drivers of metabolic rate (e.g., temperature, [O2], food availability), we hypothesized that sessile conspecifics residing in different tidal zones would exhibit distinct ‘metabolic phenotypes,’ a term we use to collectively describe the organisms’ baseline metabolic performance and capacity. To investigate this hypothesis, we collected acorn barnacles (Balanus glandula) from low, mid, and high intertidal positions in San Luis Obispo Bay, CA and measured a suite of biochemical (whole-animal citrate synthase (CS) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, aerial [D-lactate]), physiological (O2 consumption rates), morphological (body size) and behavioral (e.g., cirri beat frequency, % time operculum open) indices of metabolism. We found tidal zone-dependent differences in B. glandula metabolism that primarily related to anaerobic capacity, cirral activity patterns and body size. Barnacles from the low intertidal tended to have a greater capacity for anaerobic metabolism (i.e., increased LDH activity, increased baseline [D-lactate]), have reduced cirral beating activity—and presumably reduced feeding—when submerged, and be smaller in size compared to conspecifics in the high intertidal. We did not, however, see any D-lactate accumulation in barnacles from any tidal height throughout the 96 h of air exposure. This trend indicates that the enhanced capacity of low intertidal barnacles for anaerobic metabolism may have evolved to support metabolism during more prolonged episodes of emersion or during events other than emersion (e.g., coastal hypoxia, predation). There were also no significant differences in CS activity or baseline oxygen consumption rates (in air or seawater at 14˚C) across tidal heights, which implies that aerobic metabolic capacity may not be as sensitive to tidal position as anaerobic processes. Understanding how individuals occupying different shore heights differ in their metabolic capacity becomes increasingly interesting in the context of global climate change, given that the intertidal zone is predicted to experience even greater extremes in abiotic stress.

Metopelloides paguri sp. nov., a new species of symbiotic stenothoid amphipod (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Stenothoidae) associated with sublittoral hermit crabs from the Russian coasts of the Sea of Japan

Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3244 (1) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
IVAN MARIN ◽  
SERGEY SINELNIKOV
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Sea Of Japan ◽  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
The Sea Of Japan ◽  
Crab Species ◽  
Body Coloration ◽  
The Family ◽  
Mandibular Palp ◽  
A New Species

A new species of amphipod from the genus Metopelloides Gurjanova, 1938 (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Stenothoidae) asso-ciated with two species of sublittoral hermit crab species, Pagurus pectinatus (Stimpson, 1858) and Elassochirus cavi-manus (Miers, 1879) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Paguridae), is described from the Russian coasts of the Sea of Japan. The newspecies clearly differs from the congeners by the combination of morphological features such as telson without lateralspines, an elongated mandibular palp with single apical setae, the structures of distoventral palmar margins of subchelaon gnathopods I and II in females, bright white-red body coloration. Thus, the record of Metopelloides paguri sp. nov.represents the second record of the family Stenothoidae in the association with sublittoral hermit crabs from the Sea of Japan.

Challenges and advances in the study of pterosaur flight

2015 ◽  
Vol 93 (12) ◽  
pp. 945-959 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.M. Middleton ◽  
L.T. English
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Size Range ◽  
Flapping Flight ◽  
Flight Mechanics ◽  
Wing Membrane ◽  
Membrane Function ◽  
Aerodynamic Modeling ◽  
History Of ◽  
Bone Loading

Pterosaurs have fascinated scientists and nonscientists alike for over 200 years, as one of the three known clades of vertebrates to have evolved flapping flight. The smallest pterosaurs were comparable in size to the smallest extant birds and bats, but the largest pterosaurs were vastly larger than any extant flier. This immense size range, coupled with poor preservation and adaptations for flight unknown in extant vertebrates, have made interpretations of pterosaur flight problematic and often contentious. Here we review the anatomical, evolutionary, and phylogenetic history of pterosaurs, as well as the views, perspectives, and biases regarding their interpretation. In recent years, three areas of pterosaur biology have faced challenges and made advances: structure of the wing membrane, function of the pteroid, body size and mass estimates, as well as flight mechanics and aerodynamics. Comparative anatomical and fossil study, simulated bone loading, and aerodynamic modeling have all proved successful in furthering our understanding of pterosaur flight. We agree with previous authors that pterosaurs should be studied as pterosaurs, a diverse but phylogenetically, anatomically, and mechanically constrained clade that can offer new insights into the diversity of vertebrate flight.

Coenobichnus currani (new ichnogenus and ichnospecies): Fossil trackway of a land hermit crab, early Holocene, San Salvador, Bahamas

2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 576-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally E. Walker ◽  
Steven M. Holland ◽  
Lisa Gardiner
Keyword(s):  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Trace Fossil ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Coastal Environments ◽  
Atlantic Region ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
San Salvador ◽  
Left And Right

Land hermit crabs (Coenobitidae) are widespread and abundant in Recent tropical and subtropical coastal environments, yet little is known about their fossil record. A walking trace, attributed to a land hermit crab, is described herein as Coenobichnus currani (new ichnogenus and ichnospecies). This trace fossil occurs in an early Holocene eolianite deposit on the island of San Salvador, Bahamas. The fossil trackway retains the distinctive right and left asymmetry and interior drag trace that are diagnostic of modern land hermit crab walking traces. The overall size, dimensions and shape of the fossil trackway are similar to those produced by the modem land hermit crab, Coenobita clypeatus, which occurs in the tropical western Atlantic region. The trackway was compared to other arthropod traces, but it was found to be distinct among the arthropod traces described from dune or other environments. The new ichnogenus Coenobichnus is proposed to accommodate the asymmetry of the trackway demarcated by left and right tracks. The new ichnospecies Coenobichnus currani is proposed to accommodate the form of the proposed Coenobichnus that has a shell drag trace.

Hermit Crabs as Emergent Icons of Global Waste Epidemic and Their Unreal Estate Housing Struggles

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 697-715
Author(s):  
Concepción Cortés Zulueta
Keyword(s):  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Polar Bear ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Housing Crisis ◽  
Glass Bottle ◽  
Human Waste

AbstractA hermit crab housed in a broken glass bottle or inside a plastic cap is becoming like a polar bear stranded on a tiny, melting iceberg: those pictures are emergent icons of the plight faced by oceans and creatures, caused by human waste excesses and wrongdoings. These inventive crustaceans fulfill a warning role akin to charismatic megafauna, and induce empathy with varied sources, dominated by human projections like the housing crisis metaphor. Crabs emerge like a cluster where many opposed notions collapse, while they stage the frictions of a complex, fractured balance. They are wild animals, and controversial companion animals, and when they live inside human trash, they show resilience that questions the natural-artificial divide. Simultaneously, they remind humans of strains imposed upon them, the oceans, and the planet, becoming tokens of the unbalances with which humans have to deal in their often-misguided attempts to fix the things they are rupturing.

scholarly journals Microplastics disrupt hermit crab shell selection

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 20200030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Crump ◽  
Charlotte Mullens ◽  
Emily J. Bethell ◽  
Eoghan M. Cunningham ◽  
Gareth Arnott
Keyword(s):  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Information Gathering ◽  
Animal Behaviour ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Crab Shell ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
Pagurus Bernhardus

Microplastics (plastics < 5 mm) are a potential threat to marine biodiversity. However, the effects of microplastic pollution on animal behaviour and cognition are poorly understood. We used shell selection in common European hermit crabs ( Pagurus bernhardus ) as a model to test whether microplastic exposure impacts the essential survival behaviours of contacting, investigating and entering an optimal shell. We kept 64 female hermit crabs in tanks containing either polyethylene spheres ( n = 35) or no plastic ( n = 29) for 5 days. We then transferred subjects into suboptimal shells and placed them in an observation tank with an optimal alternative shell. Plastic-exposed hermit crabs showed impaired shell selection: they were less likely than controls to contact optimal shells or enter them. They also took longer to contact and enter the optimal shell. Plastic exposure did not affect time spent investigating the optimal shell. These results indicate that microplastics impair cognition (information-gathering and processing), disrupting an essential survival behaviour in hermit crabs.

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