Reproductive features of the deep water hermit crab <i>Sympagurus dimorphus</i> (Anomura: Parapaguridae) inhabiting pseudoshells in the SW Atlantic Ocean

Schejter, Laura; Scelzo, Marcelo A.; Mantelatto, Fernando L.

doi:10.1080/00222933.2017.1395094

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Both of these measurements are smaller than the smallest ovigerous female (6.00 mm) found by Schejter and Mantelatto (). Schejter et al () reported the mean shield length (SL) of females in Argentinian waters of 9.41 ± 1.68 mm (range: 6.6–10.5 mm).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Parapagurid hermit crabs are widely distributed across the continental shelves and slopes of many of the world's oceans, often forming dominant components of deeper‐water benthic invertebrate communities (Lange & Griffiths, ; Lemaitre, ). They also form a significant component of the invertebrate by‐catch of the Argentinian scallop fishery (Schejter, Bremec, & Hernández, ; Schejter & Mantelatto, ; Schejter, Scelzo, & Mantelatto, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Population structure and morphology of South African deep‐water parapagurid hermit crabs

2019

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The parapagurid hermit crabs Sympagurus dimorphus (Studer, 1883) and Parapagurus bouvieri (Stebbing, 1910) form dominant components of South African deeper-water benthic invertebrate communities and, as adults, forego the use of "traditional" gastropod shells in favour of symbiotically associated Epizoanthus carcinoecia. A total of 1,122 adult S. dimorphus and 549 adult P. bouvieri derived from demersal research trawl surveys were examined to investigate parameters of population structure, carcinoecia association and morphology. S. dimorphus had a female-biased sex ratio of 1:1.5, and P. bouvieri an equal sex ratio of 1:1. The proportion of males of both species increased with cephalothoracic shield length (CL). The lengths of the major right chelipeds of both S. dimorphus males and females, and P. bouvieri males were positively allometric, and negatively allometric in P. bouvieri females. All P. bouvieri inhabited carcinoecia, while 3.39% (n = 38) of S. dimorphus specimens occupied gastropod shells. There was a positive relationship between S. dimorphus CL and rate of gastropod shell occupation (r 2 = 0.96). In S. dimorphus, number of zoanthid polyps forming the carcinoecia pseudoshell increased with both total shell volume (R 2 = 0.73) and colony height (R 2 = 0.61), but no such relationships were found for P. bouvieri. Euspira napus was the most common original shell around which carcinoecia developed in both S. dimorphus (45.45%) and P. bouvieri (39.00%). We speculate that these hermit species exist along an evolutionary continuum of carcinoecia use. Sympagurus dimorphus retains the ability to occupy both gastropod shells and pseudoshells and, like most other hermit crabs, continue to use shells/carcinoecia as shelters to protect the entire body. In contrast, adult P. bouvieri appear to be totally reliant on carcinoecia, which they use more as a brood pouch covering only the abdomen, rather than as a shelter into which they can fully retract to escape predation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%