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The shadow of the shell: a cue for a new home

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2019

Monserrat Suárez-Rodríguez ,
Karla Kruesi  and
Guillermina Alcaraz Open the ORCID record for Guillermina Alcaraz [Opens in a new window]
Monserrat Suárez-Rodríguez
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ecofisiología, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City 04510, México
Karla Kruesi
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ecofisiología, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City 04510, México
Guillermina Alcaraz*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ecofisiología, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City 04510, México
*
Author for correspondence: Guillermina Alcaraz, E-mail: alcaraz@ciencias.unam.mx
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Abstract

Hermit crabs use different senses to search for and find shells. In most cases, chemical cues have been proven to act as a very efficient way of finding new shells. However, in intertidal environments, the water transports chemical signals in different directions and velocities may make it harder to track the source of the cue, so visual stimuli may be a more precise source of information. The hermit crab Calcinus californiensis shows a preference for the biconical shells of Stramonita biserialis, although the crabs may also use the less preferred shell of Nerita scabricosta. We were interested in exploring if C. californiensis identify the preferred shell species through vision in the absence of chemical stimuli. We presented both shell species to hermit crabs in two different sets of experiments. In one experiment, we presented to the hermit crabs real shells of N. scabricosta and S. biserialis, and in another, we presented only the silhouettes of the same shells. The hermit crabs discriminated between the real shells and the silhouettes of N. scabricosta and S. biserialis. Females attended with higher frequency to real shells and silhouettes of S. biserialis; while males attended more to shells and silhouettes of N. scabricosta. Although, larger males biased their attendance toward shells of S. biserialis. Our results show that visual perception may be more important than we have thought in intertidal animals.

Keywords

Calcinus californiensisgastropod shellhermit crabintertidal environmentsvisual perception
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 99 , Issue 5 , August 2019 , pp. 1165 - 1169
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2019 

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