Learning of predatory skills by shore-crabs Carcinus maenas feeding on mussels and dogwhelks

Cunningham, PL; Hughes, Roger N.

doi:10.3354/meps016021

Cited by 65 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In agreement with Covich et al (1980) and Warner (1995), crayfish used their second and third pairs of walking legs, maxillipeds, and mandibles to eat the prey, unlike to marine crabs that use chelae to break-off and to consume gastropods (e.g., Zipser and Vermeij 1978;Cunningham and Hughes 1984). The behaviour displayed by A. italicus and P. clarkii towards P. corneus is similar to that described for P. leniusculus towards thin Lymnaea peregra and L. stagnalis molluscs (Warner 1995), and for both Cambarus bartonii and P. clarkii towards Corbicula (Covich et al 1980).…”

Section: Predation On Gastropodssupporting

confidence: 64%

Predatory Efficiency of Crayfish: Comparison Between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Species

Renai

Gherardi

2004

Biological Invasions

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The invasive crayfish Procambarus clarkii is highly dispersed within lentic waters in northern and central Italy. It is a polytrophic predator, exerting a strong influence on animal communities, including amphibians, fish, gastropods, and insect larvae. The indigenous species Austropotamobius italicus, inhabiting lotic waters, behaves as a generalistbut not opportunistic -species. The object of this study was to compare the predatory pressure exercised by the two species on potential prey, i.e., anuran tadpoles, urodelan larvae, fish fry, larvae of insects, and gastropods. Three main conclusions were drawn: (1) both species are skilled predators, adopting a sit-and-wait strategy, (2) the two crayfish seemed to form a 'search image' of familiar prey, as the result of either visual or chemical perceptual changes, and (3) at least in the laboratory, P. clarkii readily switched to naive prey for it (tadpoles of Rana italica and larvae of Limnephilidae), unlike the less opportunistic A. italicus. These results furnish suggestions on the trophic preferences of the two crayfish species and provide a partial understanding of the effects that the invasive species have on the community dynamics.

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Section: Predation On Gastropodssupporting

confidence: 64%

Predatory Efficiency of Crayfish: Comparison Between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Species

Renai

Gherardi

2004

Biological Invasions

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“…In contrast, we suspect the invasive green crab (Portunidae) is a generalist/omnivorous predator that consumes algae, annelids, and mollusks (Grosholz and Ruiz 1996). By overwhelmingly preferring to crush rather than peel open their prey, the relatively smaller invasive crab may be an ineYcient predator of adult-sized whelks (i.e., >20.0 mm; Cunningham and Hughes 1984;Hughes and Elner 1979). Thus, the diVerent predatory traits of the crabs may lead to density-mediated cascades and stronger reductions of whelk populations in portions of the estuary where native crabs are the top predator.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Invasive species cause large-scale loss of native California oyster habitat by disrupting trophic cascades

et al. 2009

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Although invasive species often resemble their native counterparts, diVerences in their foraging and antipredator strategies may disrupt native food webs. In a California estuary, we showed that regions dominated by native crabs and native whelks have low mortality of native oysters (the basal prey), while regions dominated by invasive crabs and invasive whelks have high oyster mortality and are consequently losing a biologically diverse habitat.Using Weld experiments, we demonstrated that the invasive whelk's distribution is causally related to a large-scale pattern of oyster mortality. To determine whether predatorprey interactions between crabs (top predators) and whelks (intermediate consumers) indirectly control the pattern of oyster mortality, we manipulated the presence and invasion status of the intermediate and top trophic levels in laboratory mesocosms. Our results show that native crabs indirectly maintain a portion of the estuary's oyster habitat by both consuming native whelks (density-mediated trophic cascade) and altering their foraging behavior (trait-mediated trophic cascade). In contrast, invasive whelks are naive to crab predators and fail to avoid them, thereby inhibiting trait-mediated cascades and their invasion into areas with native crabs. Similarly, when native crabs are replaced with invasive crabs, the naive foraging strategy and smaller size of invasive crabs prevents them from eYciently consuming adult whelks, thereby inhibiting strong density-mediated cascades. Thus, while trophic cascades allow native crabs, whelks, and oysters to locally co-exist, the replacement of native crabs and whelks by functionally similar invasive species results in severe depletion of native oysters. As 123 coastal systems become increasingly invaded, the mismatch of evolutionarily based strategies among predators and prey may lead to further losses of critical habitat that support marine biodiversity and ecosystem function.

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“…Although crabs utilize a range of handling techniques to gain access to the soft tissue of their prey (e.g. probing the aperture, peeling the outer whorl, prying valves, chipping valve edges), typically they first attempt to crush the shell outright (Hughes & Elner 1979, Cunningham & Hughes 1984. Increases in size, especially in manus height, result in claws with greater mechanical advantage, more muscle mass and a larger gape.…”

Section: Adaptive Change In Trophic Structuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeographic differences in claw size and performance in an introduced crab predator Carcinus maenas

Smith¹

2004

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Introduced predators must forage effectively to persist in new areas, and effective resource use is correlated with a predator's trophic (feeding) structures. The extent to which trophic morphology responds to spatial variation in prey resistance, and the time scale of that response, however, are not well understood. The introduced European green crab Carcinus maenas, which has expanded its range in the northwest Atlantic Ocean over the last century and encountered a latitudinal cline in prey armor, offers an ideal opportunity to test for such post-invasion changes. In rocky intertidal habitats in the Gulf of Maine, southern populations of the snail Littorina obtusata are better defended than northern populations. To test for correlated differences in claw size and prey defense, green crabs and common molluscan prey were collected at southern and northern sites in the Gulf of Maine. C. maenas are heterochelous, and analyses revealed that crusher claws of crabs collected in the south were significantly larger than those of crabs from the north after adjusting for carapace width. The size of the cutter claw, however, did not differ between regions. Shell weights for similarsized snails differed among sites for 3 of the 4 species examined, but did not differ by region. To test crushing performance, southern and northern crabs were presented with increasing sizes of southern or northern L. obtusata in the laboratory. For similar-sized individuals, southern crabs were able to crush significantly larger snails than northern crabs regardless of the geographic origin of the snails. Thus, patterns in claw size and performance strongly suggest trophic responses to geographic differences in prey armor. Rapid changes in trophic morphology could facilitate the spread of this invasive species and initiate an ecological arms race if both predator and prey respond ecophenotypically to each other.

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Learning of predatory skills by shore-crabs Carcinus maenas feeding on mussels and dogwhelks

Cited by 65 publications

References 10 publications

Predatory Efficiency of Crayfish: Comparison Between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Species

Predatory Efficiency of Crayfish: Comparison Between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Species

Invasive species cause large-scale loss of native California oyster habitat by disrupting trophic cascades

Biogeographic differences in claw size and performance in an introduced crab predator Carcinus maenas

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