Journal article

Publication year: 2010

Pages: 435-442

Journal: Crustaceana:International Journal of Crustacean Research

Volume number: 83

Issue number: 4

ISSN: 0011-216X

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1163/001121610X489395

Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers

Abstract: 
Porcellanids are filter-feeders and most often inhabitants of the rocky intertidal and upper subtidal of all oceans. The limiting resource for these crabs is not food but space, which must meet the conditions of being hard, optimally exposed regarding water movement, and offering the crabs protection from predators. An optimal filtering spot is therefore actively controlled by one individual, usually the largest and strongest crab, through agonistic interactions. One southeast Pacific species, Allopetrolisthes punctatus (Guerin, 1835), displays a contrasting, atypical behaviour and settlement strategy, as it occupies open-spaced, unprotected, and therefore amply available space in the rocky intertidal. In order to investigate the biology of this species we carried out observations in the field and in aquariums in the vicinity of Coquimbo, Chile. A. punctatus seems to reduce predation pressure by building large swarms of individuals. The crabs tend to climb on top of each other, forming several layers. Adults were observed to carry juveniles on the carapace, chelipeds, and walking legs. We interpret this settlement strategy as an evolutionary novelty within the Porcellanidae, that allowed occupying non-colonized areas while maximizing survival of juveniles through a sort of "foster" parental care.

Harvard Citation style: Viviani, C., Hiller, A. and Werding, B. (2010) SWARMING IN OPEN SPACE IN THE ROCKY INTERTIDAL: A NEW POPULATION-SETTLEMENT STRATEGY IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC PORCELLANID CRAB, ALLOPETROLISTHES PUNCTATUS (DECAPODA, ANOMURA, PORCELLANIDAE), Crustaceana:International Journal of Crustacean Research, 83(4), pp. 435-442. https://doi.org/10.1163/001121610X489395

APA Citation style: Viviani, C., Hiller, A., & Werding, B. (2010). SWARMING IN OPEN SPACE IN THE ROCKY INTERTIDAL: A NEW POPULATION-SETTLEMENT STRATEGY IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC PORCELLANID CRAB, ALLOPETROLISTHES PUNCTATUS (DECAPODA, ANOMURA, PORCELLANIDAE). Crustaceana:International Journal of Crustacean Research. 83(4), 435-442. https://doi.org/10.1163/001121610X489395