Advanced search
Start date
Betweenand
Related content
(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Shell occupation by the hermit crab Dardanus insignis (Decapoda, Diogenidae) from the north Coast of Sao Paulo state, Brazil

Full text
Author(s):
Frameschi, I. F. [1, 2] ; Andrade, L. S. [2, 3] ; Fransozo, V. [4, 2] ; Fernandes-Goes, L. C. [5, 2] ; Castilho, A. L. [1, 2]
Total Authors: 5
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias, Dept Zool, BR-18618970 Botucatu, SP - Brazil
[2] Univ Estadual Paulista, Ecol & Cultivo Crustaceos NEBECC, Nucl Estudos Biol, Inst Biociencias, BR-18618970 Botucatu, SP - Brazil
[3] Univ Fed Triangulo Mineiro, Dept Zool & Fisiol Anim, BR-38280000 Iturama, MG - Brazil
[4] Univ Estadual Sudoeste Bahia, Dept Ciencias Nat, BR-45031900 Vitoria Da Conquista, BA - Brazil
[5] Univ Estadual Piaui UESPI, BR-64202220 Parnaiba, PI - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 5
Document type: Journal article
Source: Brazilian Journal of Biology; v. 75, n. 4, S, p. S35-S44, NOV 2015.
Web of Science Citations: 0
Abstract

The pattern of shell occupation by the hermit crab Dardanus insignis (Saussure, 1858) from the subtropical region of southeastern coast of Brazil was investigated in the present study. The percentage of shell types that were occupied and the morphometric relationships between hermit crabs and occupied shells were analyzed from monthly collections conducted during two years (from January 1998 to December 1999). Individuals were categorized according to sex and gonadal maturation, weighed and measured with respect to their cephalothoracic shield length (CSL) and wet weight (CWW). Shells were measured regarding their aperture width (SAW), dry weight (SDW) and internal volume (SIV). A total of 1086 hermit crabs was collected, occupying shells of 11 gastropod species. Olivancillaria urceus (Roding, 1798) was most commonly used by the hermit crab D. insignis, followed by Buccinanops cochlidium (Dillwyn, 1817), and Stramonita haemastoma (Linnaeus, 1767). The highest determination coefficients (r(2) > 0.50, p < 0.01) were recorded particularly in the morphometric relationships between CSL vs. CWW and SAW vs. SIV, which are important indication that in this D. insignis population the great majority the animals occupied adequate shells during the two years analysed. The high number of used shell species and relative plasticity in pattern of shell utilization by smaller individuals of D. insignis indicated that occupation is influenced by the shell availability, while larger individuals demonstrated more specialized occupation in Tonna galea (Linnaeus, 1758) shell. (AU)