Comparison of structural aspects of shells used by hermit crabs (Crustaces, Decapoda, Anomura) grouped in the colonies Diopatra sp with non-grouped

• Grant number: 12/20144-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date until: January 01, 2013
• End date until: December 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Animal Behavior
• Principal Investigator: Fosca Pedini Pereira Leite
• Grantee: Ana Paula Ferreira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Hermit crabs are crustaceans that have a non-sclerotized abdomen and live inside shells that they find in the environment. To facilitate the shells changing, they can reunite in a group (clusters) . These clusters may occur on various substrates, including biological, as Diopatra sp., polychaete tubiculous. The objective of this project is to compare the cluster's hermits with free ones, related to species, population structure and shell's quality besides observing the behavior of crabs at low tide, as the formation of clusters and exchange of shells. The study will be conducted at the Enseada Beach, in Caraguatatuba, north coast of São Paulo state. Four collects will be done at low tide, each one during three days. In each of these days will be demarcated in an area within which will be randomly selected and analyzed 10 clusters of Diopatra sp. In this same area, all free hermits will be counted and analyzed along the transect. It will also be demarcated an area of 50m X 5m, in which three observers will monitor the hermit crabs' behavior to form agglomerates and events in exchange shell, in periods when there is movement of water with the tide.