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Comparisons of Social Structure of Columbus Crabs Living on Loggerhead Sea Turtles and Inanimate Flotsam

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Thomas Dellinger ,
John Davenport  and
Peter Wirtz
Thomas Dellinger
Affiliation:
Centro de Ciências Biológicas e Geologicas da Universidade da Madeira, Largo do Colegio, P-9000 Funchal/Madeira, Portugal.
John Davenport
Affiliation:
University Marine Biological Station, Millport, Isle of Cumbrae, Scotland, KA28 OEG.
Peter Wirtz
Affiliation:
Apartment 1J, Edificio Ventur, P-9125 Caniço de Baixo, Madeira, Portugal
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Extract

Columbus crabs, Planes minutus (Crustacea: Brachyura) live in the open ocean attached to floating substrata including Sargassum, flotsam, and sea turtles. Eighty-two percent of 128 loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) checked, harboured a total of 172 crabs. Crabs inhabiting flotsam occurred in mixed sex groups of adults and juveniles, with a mean group size of 8.2 ±;11.8 (N=17). In contrast, crabs living on sea turtles around Madeira occur in smaller groups 1.6 ±0.5 (N=105) which are typically adult heterosexual pairs (61 out of 105). Crabs on turtles were bigger than on flotsam and a higher proportion of female crabs were brooding eggs. Columbus crabs exhibit different life history strategies depending on the substratum they inhabit.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 77 , Issue 1 , February 1997 , pp. 185 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1997

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