Selection of an omnivorous diet by the mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii in laboratory experiments

Erickson, Amy A.; Feller, Ilka C.; Paul, Valerie J.; Kwiatkowski, Lisa M.; Lee, Woody

doi:10.1016/j.seares.2007.06.007

Cited by 35 publications

(34 citation statements)

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“…House crickets Achetus domesticus were offered as animal tissue. A. pisonii feed on insects, including crickets, in the field (Beever et al 1979) and prefer A. domesticus to fresh plant and algal material in laboratory feeding assays (Erickson et al 2008). In order to ensure that crabs consumed the desired proportion of plant to animal tissue, the 2 food types were mixed and embedded in an agar substrate in the 5 proportions of plant to animal material described previously.…”

Section: Experimental Design and Diet Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fresh red mangrove leaves compose an estimated 84% of the diet of adult A. pisonii under natural settings (Erickson et al 2003), but the crabs commonly supplement their plant diet with opportunistic scavenging and predation on insects, benthic infauna, and juvenile conspecifics (Warner 1967, Beever et al 1979, Diaz & Conde 1988. Feeding assays indicate that like many crustaceans, these crabs preferentially consume animal material over plant material, including red mangrove leaves (Erickson et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fitness-associated consequences of an omnivorous diet for the mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii

Riley¹,

Vogel²,

Griffen³

2014

Aquat. Biol.

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Omnivory is a widespread trophic strategy with variable impacts on survival and reproduction, even within closely related taxonomic groups. In coastal ecosystems experiencing extensive environmental changes, many decapod crustaceans employ omnivorous feeding strategies. Because animals initially respond to environmental changes with behavioral modifications that can alter their foraging habits, a mechanistic understanding of how diet influences fitness is essential to predict the impact of future environmental changes on species fitness and population dynamics. We investigated the impact of an omnivorous diet on the consumption, survivorship, physiological condition, and reproductive effort of the mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii, a major mangrove consumer. A. pisonii engaged in compensatory feeding on plant material; crabs consumed more food and digested it less efficiently as the proportion of plant material in their diet increased. Although there were relatively few deaths, survival appeared to be negatively impacted by the consumption of large quantities of animal material and marginally negatively influenced by high levels of plant consumption. Physiological condition improved due to consumption of both plant and animal material, while only consumption of animal material increased reproductive investment. These results demonstrate that the opportunistic inclusion of animal material in the diet of A. pisonii significantly improves physiological condition and reproductive effort, and suggests that vitellogenic individuals cannot fully compensate for a lack of animal material in their diet by increasing plant consumption. This study provides a mechanistic framework to understand how potential diet changes by omnivorous crabs such as A. pisonii, which are facing numerous changes in their environment, may impact their fitness and population dynamics.

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Section: Experimental Design and Diet Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fitness-associated consequences of an omnivorous diet for the mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii

Riley¹,

Vogel²,

Griffen³

2014

Aquat. Biol.

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“…López & Conde (2013) encontraron una asociación directa entre la variedad de rubros consumidos por A. pisonii y la altura del manglar, pero sólo durante el periodo de lluvias, sugiriendo que existe una mayor oferta de recursos en los manglares con mayor desarrollo estructural visible durante esta temporada. Las lluvias generalmente ocasionan un incremento en la productividad de los manglares, apreciable sobre todo en regiones áridas y semiáridas (Day, Conner, Ley-Lou, Day, & Navarro, 1987;Rodríguez, 1987;McKee, 2002), como es el caso de los manglares de la península de Paraguaná de este estudio; esto toma más sentido si consideramos que A. pisonii es una especie catalogada como omnívora oportunista, cuyos individuos deben tomar ventaja estas condiciones para su beneficio (Beever, Simberloff, & King, 1979;Brogim, & Lana, 1997;Díaz, & Conde, 1988;Erickson, Feller, Paul, Kwiatkowski, & Lee, 2008;Riley, Vogel, & Griffen, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Inversión reproductiva de Aratus pisonii (Decapoda: Sesarmidae): diferencias entre hábitats y análisis de rutas

López-Sánchez

Quintero‐Torres

2014

RBT

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Reproductive investment of Aratus pisonii (Decapoda: Sesarmidae): differences among habitats and path analysis. Aratus pisonii is an abundant Neotropical mangrove crab that forages on fresh leaf tissue in the canopy and lives in a wide spectrum of habitats. It presents great plasticity in some aspects of its life history becoming an excellent subject for comparative studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate possible reproductive variations among populations of this crab in mangroves with different levels of structural development, and explore the direct and indirect effects of environmental variables on reproductive investment. The study was conducted during the rainy season of 2003 and 2004, in North Western Venezuela. Fecundity (number of eggs/female), dry weight of egg mass (PSH) and egg quality (C/N eggs ) were evaluated in five populations of this species, in mangroves under different environmental conditions (estuarine, marine, hypersaline) and diverse degrees of structural development (arboreal, arbustive, scrub). Reproductive output (Ro) was obtained by the ratio Ro=PSH/dry body weight (PSC); other estimations of Ro were tested: Ro1=PSH/carapace length (CL), Ro2=fecundity/CL. A path analysis was used to explore causal relationships between environmental and morphological variables and reproductive investment (PSH, fecundity). Fecundity ranged from 6 463±831 eggs (Mean±SE) in the hypersaline arbustive mangrove to a maximum of 24 584±2 393 eggs in estuarine arboreal mangrove, which presents the greatest structural development. The reproductive output of females showed significant differences among mangroves, with the highest values of Ro1, Ro2 in the estuarine mangrove females. The results of the path analysis indicated a multicausal effect of morphological and environmental variables; in particular, the salinity showed the greatest influence on fecundity and PSH. The condition of the estuarine mangrove forests with lower salinity and higher structural development involving higher quality of mangrove leaves and a wider range of potential resources, may explain the higher reproductive output of females observed in this habitat. Rev. Biol. Trop. 63 (2): 385-399. Epub 2015 June 01.

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“…Despite the lack of prey preference studies for E. sinensis, such data are available for other species of decapod crustaceans using a variety of different methods (e.g. Ashton, 2002;Buck et al, 2003;Jackson & Underwood, 2007;Erickson et al, 2008;Grason & Miner, 2012;Haddaway et al, 2012;Laitano et al, 2013). In the present study, methods devised by Taplin (2007) were used, and observations on handling times of the different prey species were also made.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Flexible prey handling, preference and a novel capture technique in invasive, sub-adult Chinese mitten crabs

2016

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Eriocheir sinensis (Crustacea: Brachyura: Varunidae) is one of only two crabs on the world's list of 100 most invasive aquatic invertebrates. This crab has successfully invaded NE Europe as well as the United States, eastern Canada, southern Iraq and Tokyo Bay, Japan. In England, the River Thames population of E. sinensis continues to increase in numbers and disperse westward upstream, although little is known about foraging. The present study undertook a preference and prey handling study of sub-adult mitten crabs collected from the Thames. A digital camcorder, capable of detecting infrared light, was used in the laboratory overnight to identify crab food preference, document prey handling times and record behaviour. The test prey species, namely the amphipod Gammarus zaddachi, and two species of gastropod molluscs, Theodoxus fluviatilis and Radix peregra, were collected in the same habitat as the crabs, and all were consumed under laboratory conditions. Eriocheir were able to capture mobile G. zaddachi using a novel prey capture technique not previously described in brachyurans and use different skills for handling each prey species. This flexibility in prey handling may be an important contributory factor in their freshwater invasive capacity. Results indicated that the crabs had a preference for G. zaddachi which were consumed most frequently and preferentially over both mollusc species. Prey choice may be based on maximising net energy gain as consuming G. zaddachi was shown to provide the highest rate of potential energy consumption by the crab due, in part, to a much shorter handling time than for both species of snails.

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Selection of an omnivorous diet by the mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii in laboratory experiments

Cited by 35 publications

References 70 publications

Fitness-associated consequences of an omnivorous diet for the mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii

Fitness-associated consequences of an omnivorous diet for the mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii

Inversión reproductiva de Aratus pisonii (Decapoda: Sesarmidae): diferencias entre hábitats y análisis de rutas

Flexible prey handling, preference and a novel capture technique in invasive, sub-adult Chinese mitten crabs

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