Battle of the borders: Is a range-extending fiddler crab affecting the spatial niche of a congener species?

Author(s)

Arakaki, Jonathann Yukio ^[1] ; De Grande, Fernando Rafael ^{[1, 2]} ; Arvigo, Alexandre Luiz ^{[1, 2]} ; Farias Pardo, Juan Carlos ^{[1, 3, 2, 4]} ; Fogo, Bruno Rafael ^{[1, 2]} ; Sanches, Fabio H. C. ^{[2, 5]} ; Miyai, Caio Akira ^{[1, 6]} ; Marochi, Murilo Zanetti ^[1] ; Costa, Tania Marcia ^{[1, 2, 6]}

Affiliation

^[1] Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Biosci Inst, Coastal Campus, Praca Infante Dom Henrique S-N, BR-11330900 Sao Vicente, SP - Brazil

^[2] Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Biosci Inst, Postgrad Program Biol Sci Zool, BR-18618000 Botucatu, SP - Brazil

^[3] Norwegian Inst Water Res NIVA, Jon Lilletuns Vei 3, N-4879 Grimstad - Norway

^[4] Univ Agder UiA, Ctr Coastal Res, NO-4604 Kristiansand - Norway

^[5] Fed Univ Sao Paulo IMar UNIFESP, Inst Marine Sci, BR-11070102 Santos, SP - Brazil

^[6] Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Aquaculture Ctr CAUNESP, BR-14884900 Jaboticabal, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology; v. 532, NOV 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Climate change is drastically altering environmental conditions and resource availability. Many organisms are shifting their distribution boundaries. Fiddler crabs, for instance, are important ecosystem engineers in coastal environments that have been extending their distribution range poleward. In this study, we evaluated the influence of a range-extending species, Leptuca cumulanta, which has recently overlapped the distribution of the resident species Leptuca uruguayensis. Through a set of field and laboratory experiments, we characterised the degree of territorial overlap between L. cumulanta and L. uruguayensis from the lower to upper intertidal zone in a mangrove area. We also analysed whether the presence of L. cumulanta prevents habitat choosiness or influences agonistic behaviours in L. uruguayensis in territorial fights. We found that both species overlap territories at the same level in the intertidal zone. However, we observed that both habitat choice and agonistic behaviours of L. uruguayensis were unresponsive to the presence of L. cumulanta. The low interference between recent heterospecific neighbours sharing the same space supports coexistence of fiddler crabs L. uruguayensis and L. cumulanta in the early stage of overlapping. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/50300-6 - Climate change impact on São Paulo's estuarine fauna at pertinent parameter ranges and spatial scales: the effects of temperature and pH on fiddler crab larval development
• Grantee: Tânia Marcia Costa
• Support Opportunities: Research Program on Global Climate Change - Regular Grants