Quantifying hermit crab recruitment rates and megalopal shell selection on wave-swept shores

Worcester, S. E.; Gaines, S.

doi:10.3354/meps157307

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Recruitment of these hermit crabs varies spatially across central California (S. Gaines & C. Blanchette unpubl.) and typically begins in March and ends in August, although some sites receive recruits until November (Worcester & Gaines 1997). Evidence of growth rates from congeneric species of hermit crabs shows that adult hermit crabs can grow 0.3 to 1.0 mm mo -1 (Bertness 1981) and that some species can reach maturity within 4 mo and maximum adult size within 8 mo (Fotheringham 1976b).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat bottlenecks in stage-structured species: hermit crabs as a model system

Halpern¹

2004

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The availability of habitat at one stage of a species' life history may limit the ultimate population size of that species. In particular, species that use distinct juvenile habitats may experience bottlenecks at an early life stage that have important and potentially unexpected consequences for adult population sizes. I used intertidal hermit crabs Pagurus samuelis and P. hirsuitisculus as a model system to test experimentally the effect of increasing juvenile and adult habitat (snail shells, Littorina sp. and Tegula funebralis) availability on adult population size. Despite strong evidence from these experiments that juvenile hermit crab population size was limited by juvenile habitat availability, adult population size was not. Instead, results indicated that adult populations were probably limited by recruitment and adult habitat availability. Consequently, these results (1) demonstrate that identifying true habitat bottlenecks can be challenging, (2) show that identifying true bottlenecks requires one to evaluate the effect of bottlenecks on adult population size, and (3) offer a rigorous empirical test of the assumption that hermit crab populations are limited by the availability of large shells. These results also highlight how conservation and management strategies designed to protect species with stage-structured life histories must consider the actual role different habitats play in controlling adult population size if they are to be most effective.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat bottlenecks in stage-structured species: hermit crabs as a model system

Halpern¹

2004

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…It has been demonstrated that megalopae and early juveniles of brachyuran and anomuran crabs prefer structurally complex habitats that provide refuge against predation (Fernandez et al, 1993;Dittel et al, 1996;Stevens and Swiney, 2005;Stoner, 2009). Field studies have demonstrated that the quality and quantity of empty gastropod shells strongly affect the settlement rate of marine hermit crabs (Asakura, 1991;Worcester and Gaines, 1997;Oba and Goshima, 2004). Our field surveys revealed the heterogeneous distributions of early juvenile land hermit crabs on the beach of Banda and that the distributional characteristics of juveniles were spatially stable.…”

Section: Important Habitats For Land Hermit Crabs During the Seato-lamentioning

confidence: 68%

Occurrence and distribution of early juvenile land hermit crabs at a small beach on the Boso Peninsula, Japan

et al. 2020

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The present study was conducted to examine the occurrence and distribution of early juvenile land hermit crabs of the genus Coenobita on a small beach on the Boso Peninsula, Japan as a basis for understanding the important habitats that land hermit crabs use during the sea-to-land transition. The survey sites were supratidal zones at six points with heterogeneous topography, and visual surveys for early juveniles were conducted from middle July to late October in 2015 and 2016. The number of empty gastropod shells in four quadrats along the intertidal zone at each point was also counted in the 2016 survey. The occurrence of early juveniles varied among survey points and was spatially stable for two successive years. The first appearance and abundance of early juveniles varied among survey years. Early juveniles were abundant at points with a gravel bottom throughout the intertidal zone, and empty gastropod shells were also abundant at these points. The abundance of early juveniles was highly correlated with the amount of empty gastropod shells. Thus, our surveys suggested the importance of the sediment types and abundance of empty gastropod shells in the intertidal zones for settlement and landing by land hermit crabs.

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“…The shell resource is naturally scarce in the environment and cannot always support the entire community (Vance Richard 1972aRichard , 1972bKellogg 1976Kellogg , 1977. Shells are a limiting resource for growth and reproduction (Worcester & Gaines 1997;Angel 2000). Thus, hermit crabs will constantly seek shells in the environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The hermit crab–shell relationship through the lens of interaction networks: The use of network metrics and species role across communities

Silva

Rodrigues

Lima³

et al. 2020

Austral Ecology

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Hermit crabs are among the most unique crustaceans because they have a non-calcified pleon, and they often use empty gastropod shells for shelter and protection. The lack of an adequate shell impacts their growth, reproduction and other population features especially because the shell resource might not be found for the entire population or community. This study focuses on the relationship between hermit crabs and their shells using network metrics. We analysed the nestedness, modularity, network specialisation, species specialisation and species role in eight hermit crab communities from two different types of substrate (rock and soft bottom). Most of these communities had a modular and non-nested pattern. Some communities presented different specialisation levels in terms of resource use (generalist or specialist) with species showing different roles across communities. These patterns could be related to the intra-/interspecific competition mechanism and by the resource (shell) usage pattern in the different regions. According to species roles, some species characterised as connectors can be addressed as conservation targets. The network approach in hermit crab/shell relationship proved to be an important tool in assessing their interaction in a community level.

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Quantifying hermit crab recruitment rates and megalopal shell selection on wave-swept shores

Abstract: ABSTRACT. The availability of shells has been shown to limitThe few studies of hermit crab recruitment to date

Cited by 14 publications

References 5 publications

Habitat bottlenecks in stage-structured species: hermit crabs as a model system

Habitat bottlenecks in stage-structured species: hermit crabs as a model system

Occurrence and distribution of early juvenile land hermit crabs at a small beach on the Boso Peninsula, Japan

The hermit crab–shell relationship through the lens of interaction networks: The use of network metrics and species role across communities

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