Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-m8s7h Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T19:01:14.071Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Biological traits suggest a niche overlap between two grapsid crabs sharing the rocky intertidal of the eastern Mediterranean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2015

A. Arab ,
G. Kazanjian  and
M. Bariche
A. Arab
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, American University of Beirut, 11–0236, Beirut, Lebanon
G. Kazanjian
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, American University of Beirut, 11–0236, Beirut, Lebanon
M. Bariche*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, American University of Beirut, 11–0236, Beirut, Lebanon
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: M. Bariche, Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, American University of Beirut, 11–0236, Beirut, Lebanon email: michel.bariche@aub.edu.lb
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The current study investigated basic biological features for two co-occurring shore crabs Pachygrapsus marmoratus and P. transversus in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Differences in population structure, reproductive periods and settlement patterns were studied along the coast of Lebanon. Sizes of sampled individuals ranged from 4 to 37 mm carapace width (CW) for P. marmoratus and from 3.5 to 24 mm CW for P. transversus. Males were larger than females in both species, each of them exhibiting different size frequency distributions. Both male and female proportions were similar for P. marmoratus while males dominated the population of P. transversus. Fecundity and egg sizes were higher in P. marmoratus and fecundity was directly related to body size for the two crabs. Size structures differed between studied locations showing size restrictions for specific size-classes. Females from both species remained ovigerous for about 5 months, with P. transversus (May–August) started 1 month after P. marmoratus. Larger sized females displayed higher fecundities. The recruitment of juveniles lasted 5 months for both P. marmoratus (December–May) and P. transversus (November–April). Our results showed that niche partitioning occurred between the two species, where P. marmoratus starts incubating earlier than P. transversus while young of the year of the latter settle earlier on the reefs, taking advantage of convenient seawater temperatures and thus minimizing competition. This study shed some light on the populations of grapsid crabs living in the eastern Mediterranean and provided baseline information on the biology and ecology of the two congeneric shore crabs and their interactions.

Keywords

GrapsidaePachygrapsus marmoratusPachygrapsus transversuspopulation structurereproductionsettlementLebanonMediterranean
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 95 , Issue 8 , December 2015 , pp. 1685 - 1692
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abele, L.G., Campanella, P.J. and Salmon, M. (1986) Natural history and social organization of the semiterrestrial grapsid crab Pachygrapsus transversus (Gibbes). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 104, 153–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adams, A.J. and Ebersole, J.P. (2009) Mechanisms affecting recruitment patterns of fish and decapods in tropical coastal ecosystems. In Nagelkerken, I. (ed.) Ecological connectivity among tropical coastal ecosystems. Amsterdam: Springer, pp. 185–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ateş, A.S., Kocataş, A., Katağan, T. and Özcan, T. (2010) An updated list of decapod crustaceans on the Turkish coast with a new record of the Mediterranean shrimp, Processa acutirostris Nouvel and Holthuis 1957 (Caridea, Processidae). North-Western Journal of Zoology 6, 209–217.Google Scholar
Cannicci, S., Gomei, M., Boddi, B. and Vannini, M. (2002) Feeding habits and natural diet of the intertidal crab Pachygrapsus marmoratus: opportunistic browser or selective feeder? Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 54, 983–1001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cannicci, S., Paula, J. and Vannini, M. (1999) Activity pattern and spatial strategy in Pachygrapsus marmoratus (Decapoda: Grapsidae) from Mediterranean and Atlantic shores. Marine Biology 133, 429–435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crocetta, F., Mifsud, S., Paolini, P., Piscopo, J. and Schembri, P.J. (2011) New records of the genus Pachygrapsus (Crustacea: Decapoda) from the central Mediterranean Sea with a review of its Mediterranean zoogeography. Mediterranean Marine Science 12, 75–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falciai, L. and Minervini, R. (1992) Guida dei crostacei decapodi d'Europa. Padova: Muzzio Franco Editore.Google Scholar
Flores, A.A.V. and Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. (1998) External factors determining seasonal breeding in a subtropical population of the shore crab Pachygrapsus transversus (Gibbes, 1850) (Brachyura, Grapsidae). Invertebrate Reproduction and Development 34, 149–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flores, A.A.V. and Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. (1999) On the population biology of the mottled shore crab Pachygrapsus transversus (Gibbes, 1850) (Brachyura, Grapsidae) in a subtropical area. Bulletin of Marine Science 65, 59–73.Google Scholar
Flores, A.A.V. and Paula, J. (2001) Intertidal distribution and species composition of brachyuran crabs at two rocky shores in central Portugal. Hydrobiologia 449, 171–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flores, A.A.V. and Paula, J. (2002a) Population dynamics of the shore crab Pachygrapsus marmoratus (Brachyura: Grapsidae) in the central Portuguese coast. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 82, 229–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flores, A.A.V. and Paula, J. (2002b) Sexual maturity, larval release and reproductive output of two brachyuran crabs from a rocky intertidal area in central Portugal. Invertebrate Reproduction and Development 42, 21–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flores, A.A.V. and Paula, J. (2002c) Temporal and spatial patterns of settlement of brachyuran crab megalopae at a rocky coast in central Portugal. Marine Ecology Progress Series 229, 207–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Froglia, C. (2010) Crustacea, Malacostraca, Decapoda. Biologia Marina Mediterranea 17, 519–534.Google Scholar
Gore, R.H., Scotto, L.E. and Becker, L.J. (1978) Community composition, stability, and trophic partitioning in decapod crustaceans inhabiting some subtropical sabellariid worm reefs. Bulletin of Marine Science 28, 221–248.Google Scholar
Griffin, D.J.G. (1971) The ecological distribution of grapsid and ocypodid shore crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura) in Tasmania. Journal of Animal Ecology 40, 597–621.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holthuis, L.B. and Gottlieb, E. (1958) An annotated list of the decapod crustacea of the Mediterranean coast of Israel, with an appendix listing the Decapoda of the Eastern Mediterranean. Bulletin of the Research Council of Israel 7B, 1–126.Google Scholar
Ingle, R.W. and Clark, P.F. (2006) First reported occurrences of the marbled crab, Pachygrapsus marmoratus (Crustacea: Brachyura: Grapsoidea) in southern coastal waters of the British Isles. Marine Biodiversity Records 1, e26.Google Scholar
Masunari, S. and Dubiaski-Silva, J. (1998) Crustacea decapoda da praia rochosa da ilha do Farol, Matinhos, Paraná. I. Distribuição temporal de densidade das populações. Revista Brasileria do Zoologia 15, 219–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shiber, J.G. (1981) Brachyurans from Lebanese waters. Bulletin of Marine Science 31, 864–875.Google Scholar
Udekem D'Acoz, C.D’. (1999) Inventaire et distribution des crustacés décapodes de l'Atlantique nord-oriental, de la Méditerranée et des eaux continentals adjacentes au nord de 25 N. Patrimoines naturels 40, 1–383.Google Scholar
Vaccaro, A.M. and Pipitone, C. (2005) First record of Pachygrapsus transversus (Gibbes, 1850) (Brachyura, Grapsidae) in Italian waters. Crustaceana 78, 677–683.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vernet-Cornubert, G. (1958) Recherches sur la sexualité du crabe Pachygrapsus marmoratus (Fabricius). Archives de Zoologie Expérimentale et Générale 96, 101–276.Google Scholar
Warburg, M.R., Amar, K.O., Davidson, D., Sayag, L., Schwartz, Y., Tudiver, B. and Yifrach, H. (2007) Long-term study on a brachyuran crab community (Crustacea: Decapoda) inhabiting a boulder shore in the Eastern Mediterranean: relative abundance. Zoology in the Middle East 41, 71–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warburg, M.R. and Schwartz, Y. (1993) Intra- and interspecific relationships within a crab community of the intertidal rocky shore in the Eastern Mediterranean. Bios 1, 33–47.Google Scholar
Wolff, T. (1954) Occurrence of two east American species of crabs in European waters. Nature 174, 188–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar