Effects of Interspecific Competition on Fitness of the Hermit Crab Clibanarius Tricolor

Bach, Catherine E.; Hazlett, Brian A.; Rittschof, Dan

doi:10.2307/1936442

Cited by 130 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…The majority of the populations studied to date was shown to chronically suffer from the inadequate supply of inhabitable shells (e.g., Vance 1972a;Fotheringham 1976b; for exceptions see Gherardi et al 1994) and their growth appears to be largely shell limited (e.g., Bach et al 1976).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shell acquisition by hermit crabs: which tactic is more efficient?

Tricarico¹,

Gherardi²

2006

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Gastropod shells are limited resources for most hermit crab species, acting as primary factors in various aspects of their biology. To investigate the efficacy of different behavioral tactics adopted for their acquisition (locomotion, attendance at shell-supplying sites, interactions with conspecifics in aggregation) we conducted observations and experiments at a salt marsh in New England (USA). Locomotion, fast and meandering, significantly increased the chances of encountering empty shells and conspecifics. However, shell exchanges were rare. Simulated gastropod predation sites quickly attracted a larger number of hermit crabs than the other shell-supplying sites tested (live and dead conspecifics, live snails) and induced the rapid occupancy of all the empty shells offered, usually by the first crabs arriving at the site. Aggregations seemed not to function as shell exchange markets, as previously suggested for several other species. In the short run, exploitation seems to be more efficient for the acquisition of new shells by Pagurus longicarpus. In the long run, it is the density of nondestructive gastropod predators that regulates the availability of new shells of good quality in the pool available to this hermit crab species.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shell acquisition by hermit crabs: which tactic is more efficient?

Tricarico¹,

Gherardi²

2006

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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“…In accordance with Dowds and Elwood 1983 and Gherardi 2006, shell quality significantly influences the level of aggression in hermit crabs: crabs occupying suboptimal shells (OS and SS) are more ready to attack the rival and execute more numerous strong contacts and shell fights. Indeed, the more intense agonistic behavior recorded in hermit crabs occupying poor-quality shells is an adaptive strategy evolved to accommodate their individual growth, to protect them from predators, and to increase their reproductive success (Hazlett 1970a, b;Vance 1972;Bach et al 1976;Hazlett 1978Hazlett , 1980Gherardi 1996b). Similarly, in the house crickets Acheta domesticus, a differential prior exposure to food can cause motivational asymmetries among combatants, the hungry individuals being more aggressive and more likely the winner (Nosil 2002); in this species, males isolated from females for 4 days initiated aggression more often than males that were made free to encounter females during the four previous nights (Brown et al 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The past ownership of a resource affects the agonistic behavior of hermit crabs

Tricarico

Gherardi

2007

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Resource value is often considered the most important nonstrategic variable in the fighting behavior of invertebrates. In our study, we tested whether the experience of shells of a given quality, occupied in the recent past, might affect the agonistic behavior of the hermit crab Pagurus longicarpus. We analyzed the fights battled by 84 test crabs against size-matched unknown rivals before (premanipulation phase) and after (postmanipulation phase) having modified the quality of the domicile shell of the contestants. Specifically, we compared the behavior of crabs that had been subject to either a worsening or an improvement in the quality of their shell with crabs that, although being similarly subject to a shell manipulation, occupied a shell of the same quality as in the premanipulation phase. We found that the crabs subject to a worsening in the quality of their shell were more aggressive than those subject to its improvement and that the former were even more aggressive than those that occupied a bad quality shell also in the premanipulation phase. Crabs seemed not to gather information about the opponent's shell during fights or not to use this information, most often behaving in accordance with the quality of the domicile shell. These results are clear in showing the role played by the experience of a previously occupied shell, also confirming that the agonistic behavior of P. longicarpus is mainly based on decision rules of the type "own resource value dependency."

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“…Hermit crab populations are limited by the availability, size and quality of their shells (Vance 1972). Since they rely on empty shells and rarely predate on gastropods or remove the flesh from dead gastropods, hermit crabs compete intraor interspecifically for the shell resource (Bach et al 1976). Although the availability of empty shells may be subjected to advective forces such as tides and waves as well as the hermit crabs themselves, the co-occurring assemblage of living gastropods typically reflects the availability of shells in intertidal mud habitats (Teoh and Chong 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of habitat heterogeneity on the assemblages and shell use of hermit crabs (Anomura: Diogenidae)

2014

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Background: Two contrasting intertidal habitats on the western Sabah coast (Malaysia), one is a rocky-sandy-mud flat at Sepangar (N6°02′18.57″; E116°06′40.07″) and the other is a mangrove foreshore at Sulaman (N6°15′33.00″; E116°18′49.80″), are characterized by substrate zonation and homogeneous substrate (mud), respectively. Hermit crabs are one of the most conspicuous benthic macrofauna at both sites. The study examined the influence of habitat heterogeneity on the assemblages and shell use pattern of hermit crabs. Results: The heterogeneous intertidal flat at Sepangar (five species) supported a higher diversity and abundance of hermit crabs compared to Sulaman mangrove foreshore (two species). Hermit crabs at Sepangar used a greater variety of shells (30 species) compared to those at Sulaman (two species). Zonation of hermit crab species occurred at Sepangar where Diogenes klaasi dominated at the high-tide mark and two Clibanarius species (C. striolatus and C. merguiensis) dominated at the low-tide mark. Considerable overlap in habitat use (mid-and lower shore) occurred between D. tumidus and the two Clibanarius species which appeared to influence shell use pattern. Conclusions: This study supports the work of others showing that structurally complex habitats will allow habitat partition among species thus explaining the greater diversity and abundance of hermit crabs. Such a heterogeneous habitat provides a wider choice of shells for the hermit crabs, minimizing interspecific competition for the available shell resources.

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Effects of Interspecific Competition on Fitness of the Hermit Crab Clibanarius Tricolor

Cited by 130 publications

References 17 publications

Shell acquisition by hermit crabs: which tactic is more efficient?

Shell acquisition by hermit crabs: which tactic is more efficient?

The past ownership of a resource affects the agonistic behavior of hermit crabs

Influence of habitat heterogeneity on the assemblages and shell use of hermit crabs (Anomura: Diogenidae)

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