The importance of various shell characteristics to the shell-selection behavior of hermit crabs

Comparative analysis of shell occupation by two southern populations of the hermit crab Loxopagurus loxochelis (Decapoda, Diogenidae)

“…In C. tibicen and C. vittatus, there was a positive relationship between shell weight and the hermit's weight (GARCIA; MANTELATTO et al, 2010). It has been demonstrated that the shell's internal volume is also another important attribute: in Pagurus pollicaris Say 1817, the shell preference is determined by the shell's weight and volume and, in the laboratory, the latter attribute was identified as the most important (CONOVER, 1978); more recently, the importance of the shell's volume in P. exilis and I. sawayai has also been highlighted FANTUCCI et al, 2008, respectively); Biagi et al (2006) observed that the relationship between the shell's aperture and its weight was the one that best reflected the shell's association with L. loxochelis in two separated regions in Argentina and Brazil; the same was observed by when evaluating a population of the same species from south Brazil and Carranza et al (2008) in a study with a population of L. loxochelis in Uruguay discovered that the closest relationship was between shell weight and left propodus length.…”

“…Gastropod shells constitute a vital resource for hermit crabs (CONOVER, 1978;, providing them with many important conditions, such as protection against predators (REESE, 1969;VANCE, 1972;BERTNESS, 1982) and physical stress (BOLLAY, 1964;REESE, 1969), and granting protection to their eggs during the egg-laying period (FOTHERINGHAM, 1976). Gastropod shell availability acts as a limiting factor to these animals' populations (PROVENZANO, 1960;VANCE, 1972a;KELLOGG, 1976;SPIGHT, 1977;BARNES, 1999) and influences their growth rates (MARKHAM, 1968;CHILDRESS, 1972;VANCE, 1972;FOTHERINGHAM, 1976a;BERTNESS, 1981;HAZLETT, 1981) and egg production (BOLLAY, 1964;BERTNESS, 1981;ELWOOD et al, 1995;MANTELATTO et al, 2002).…”

Morphometric Relationships Between the Hermit Crab Isocheles sawayai (Forest & Saint Laurent) (Crustacea Anomura Diogenidae) and its Shell from Southern Brazil

“…The selection of the gastropod shell to be occupied by a hermit crab is related to several factors, among which the shell availability in the habitat has been considered the most important one [3] and confirmed by several authors of different countries [4]. The shell´s weight and its internal volume [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and physical factors [12,13] have been reported as a secondary factor. On the other hand, males and females can occupy different species of empty shells as reported in Brazilian hermit crab populations [7,8,10,11].…”

Habitat heterogeneity in the assemblages and shell use by the most abundant hermit crabs (Anomura: Diogenidae and Paguridae): does the occupied shell species differ according to gender and species?

“…Thus, the availability of shells constitutes an essential and limiting factor in the population structure of hermit crabs (Meireles et al, 2003). Agonistic conflicts between individuals of the same species or different species over resources (shells) are common in this group (Mantelatto and Garcia, 2000), but the selection and shell occupation do not occur randomly and follow some precepts, such as competition, because the availability of shells is generally low in environment (Bertness, 1980), shell size (Vance, 1972;Bertness, 1981a), internal volume (Conover, 1978), shell weight (Mantelatto and Dominciano, 2002), external architecture and adornments, which increase protection against predation and minimize energy costs transport to the hermit crabs (Vance, 1972;Rotjan et al, 2004).…”