Larval Development of the Hermit Crab Diogenes Miles (Herbst, 1791) (Decapoda, Anomura, Diogenidae) in the Laboratory

Crustaceana ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.N. Sankolli ◽  
Shakuntala Shenoy
Keyword(s):  
Larval Development ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Peninsular India ◽  
Complete Reduction ◽  
Sandy Shores ◽  
The Third ◽  
Salient Features

AbstractHermit crabs are the commonest intertidal anomuran crustaceans. Diogenes miles (Herbst) is an inhabitant of surf-beaten sandy shores along coasts of peninsular India. This species is outstanding among other diogenid hermit crabs in having, unlike others, an extremely flat and broad body well adapted for its occurrence in long, narrow-mouthed gastropod shells mostly of Oliva and to lesser extent Gypraea and Conus. During the present study it was observed that, contrary to what was expected, D. miles docs not breed throughout the year but appears to have its breeding season restricted to the summer months. This was indicated by the collection of ovigerous females of the species only during the summer months near Bombay, Ratnagiri and Karwar along the Indian west coast. Eggs are minute, bright crimson to scarlet when immature and are easily shed, even with slight disturbance. Larval development consists of 3 zoeal and a megalopa stages, described in the present paper, after specimens reared in the laboratory. Some of the salient features of the zoea larvae are: a long, pointed rostrum, smooth carapace, usual triangular telson with process formula 7 + 7 in the first zoea but complete reduction of the 4th process in the third zoea. The megalopa has the typical unequal chelipeds, the left being larger, only 3 pairs of pleopods, and the telson is rectangularly rounded. Though the deep curve of the carpus develops right from the megalopa stage, the inward right-angled bend of the cheliped, so characteristic of the adult, is not fully developed even in the 5 subsequent instars.

scholarly journals On the Mode of Feeding of the Hermit-crab, Eupagurus Bernhardus, and some other Decapoda

1927 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 909-921 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. Orton
Keyword(s):  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
The Third ◽  
Sea Bottom ◽  
Living Organisms

The hermit-crab, Eupagurus Bernhardus, is common in the oyster beds in the upper part of the Fal Estuary, and experiments indicate, while observations and experiments on the mode of feeding virtually prove, that these hermit-crabs do not harm healthy small oysters one inch or more in length, and the larger oysters, but that spat less than one inch may occasionally be damaged or eaten by hermit-crabs picking with their claws indiscriminately at growths on shells and stones.E. Bernhardus obtains food largely by its small claw and third maxillipedes, and may at certain periods of the year feed mainly on microorganisms, and at others on macroscopic, but mainly tiny living organisms which have been disturbed and captured in the deposits on the sea-bottom. Food can be obtained by the use of the third maxillipedes alone.

scholarly journals Reproductive and larval biology of the sub-Antarctic hermit crab Pagurus comptus reared in the laboratory

2006 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 743-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo A. Lovrich ◽  
Sven Thatje
Keyword(s):  
Larval Development ◽  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Tierra Del Fuego ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Light Cycle ◽  
High Latitudes ◽  
Larval Release ◽  
Larval Biology ◽  
Antarctic Waters ◽  
Shield Length

Fecundity, hatching rhythm, and the planktotrophic larval development of the hermit crab Pagurus comptus from sub-Antarctic waters of the Beagle Channel (Tierra del Fuego) were studied under controlled laboratory conditions of temperature, light cycle, food supply, and salinity. Fecundity was low, ranging from 134 to 848 eggs per female (cephalotoraxic shield length, SL, 2.3–5.0 mm). Hatching observed in the laboratory ranged from 6 to 30 d. The larval development was studied in laboratory cultures fed with Artemia sp. nauplii and kept at constant 7.0±0.5°C. Larvae invariably passed through four zoeal instars and one megalopa stage. Mean durations of the zoeal stages I to IV were 14.3±1.8, 16.7±4.6, 23.2±6.5, 33.4±9.2 d, respectively. Combined with the 43.8±5.6 d recorded for the survived megalopae, we suggest that the complete larval development lasts about four months. Starved larvae, on average, survived for 22±8.1 d (maximum 38 d) by far exceeding the zoea I duration in fed larvae, but did not reach the moult to the zoea II stage. Unlike other sub-Antarctic decapods, which show a tendency towards abbreviated or endotrophic larval developments at high latitudes, hermit crabs, at their southernmost distributional limit on Earth, show an extended and fully planktotrophic larval development and thus need to synchronize larval release with short periods of high primary production.

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.

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.

scholarly journals Production of germ-free mosquitoes via transient colonisation allows stage-specific investigation of host-microbiota interactions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ottavia Romoli ◽  
Johan Claes Schönbeck ◽  
Siegfried Hapfelmeier ◽  
Mathilde Gendrin
Keyword(s):  
Larval Development ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Larval Instar ◽  
Bacterial Colonisation ◽  
Germ Free ◽  
Functional Studies ◽  
The Third ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Folate Biosynthesis ◽  
Vector Borne

AbstractThe mosquito microbiota impacts the physiology of its host and is essential for normal larval development, thereby influencing transmission of vector-borne pathogens. Germ-free mosquitoes generated with current methods show larval stunting and developmental deficits. Therefore, functional studies of the mosquito microbiota have so far mostly been limited to antibiotic treatments of emerging adults. In this study, we developed a novel approach to produce germ-free Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. It is based on reversible colonisation with bacteria genetically modified to allow complete decolonisation at any developmental stage. We show that, unlike germ-free mosquitoes previously produced using sterile diets, reversibly colonised mosquitoes show no developmental retardation and reach the same size as control adults. This allowed us to uncouple the study of the microbiota in larvae and adults. In adults, we detected no impact of bacterial colonisation on mosquito fecundity or longevity. In larvae, we performed a transcriptome analysis and diet supplementation experiments following decolonisation during the third larval instar. Our data suggest that bacteria support larval development by contributing to folate biosynthesis and by enhancing energy storage. Our study establishes a novel tool to study the microbiota in insects and deepens our knowledge on the metabolic contribution of bacteria to mosquito development.

Breeding biology and movements of Australian sea-lions, Neophoca cinerea, off the west coasst of Western Australia

1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 405 ◽  
Author(s):  
NJ Gales ◽  
AJ Cheal ◽  
GJ Pobar ◽  
P Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Sea Lion ◽  
The West ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Neophoca Cinerea

The Australian sea-lion, Neophoca cinerea, has a 17-18-month breeding cycle on islands off the west coast of Western Australia. Buller, North Fisherman and Beagle Is are the main pupping sites, with several very small colonies (n> 3) at the Abrolhos Is. The 4-5-month pupping seasons are synchronised at North Fisherman and Beagle Is, but the sea-lions from Buller I. breed one month later and those from the Abrolhos Is two months earlier. Pup production and pup mortality were highly variable between seasons over which observations were recorded: 129 pups were born at the main breeding sites in early 1988, the mortality in the first five months was 7.1%, whereas 181 pups were born in late 1989 of which 24.3% died. Pups remain in the vicinity of their natal islands for the first 4-5 months of life before leaving, perhaps on foraging trips, with their mothers. Most return to their natal island, although others haulout on islands up to 27 km away. Some male N. cinerea congregate in bachelor colonies on islands adjacent to the Perth metropolitan region during the non-breeding season and migrate up to 280 km north each breeding season. The status of the isolated, west-coast N. cinerea population is unknown. The current high level of human pressure on sea-lion terrestrial habitats and their food resources indicate a need for further monitoring of this species.

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 A new species of coralsnake of the genus Calliophis (Squamata: Elapidae) from the west coast of peninsular India

Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3437 (1) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERIC N. SMITH ◽  
HEMANT OGALE ◽  
V. DEEPAK ◽  
VARAD B. GIRI
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
The State ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Mountainous Areas ◽  
Peninsular India ◽  
Venomous Snake ◽  
The Third ◽  
Dark Pigmentation ◽  
A New Species ◽  
Dark Body

We describe a new species of coralsnake, Calliophis castoe, from western peninsular India. The discovery of this new species comes as a surprise because it is a venomous snake from both lowland and mountainous areas that are accessible and well populated. The new species differs from all other Calliophis, the Tropical Asian coralsnakes, in having unicolored and dark body and tail dorsa, an orange head band, a salmon color to scarlet body and tail underside, four maxillary teeth behind the fang (the highest number, except for some individuals of C. maculiceps) and, in having the prefrontals touching the third supralabial while having both a preocular and a nasal (except for some C. beddomei). Calliophis castoe also differs from all other Indian coralsnakes, with the exception of some Sinomicrurus macclellandi, in having an unpatterned body, no dark pigmentation on the last supralabial, and a wide post-temporal band. We also present mitochondrial DNA sequence differences between the new taxon and C. nigrescens. The new specie is the second species of coralsnake known from the state of Goa (beside C. nigrescens), the third known from Maharashtra (beside C. melanurus and C. nigrescens), and the fifth known from the state of Karnataka (beside C. beddomei, C. bibroni, C. melanurus, and C. nigrescens).

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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