Acoustic signals and behaviour of Ovalipes trimaculatus in the context of reproduction

Acoustic behaviours of large crustaceans in NE Atlantic coastal habitats

“…They indicated that this sound plays a role in intraspecific communication and is related to sexual attraction. In addition, Buscaino et al (2015) did not observe movement that was large enough to confirm the mechanism of sound generation, which is similar to our findings for Type 1 behaviour. In our recordings, the males and females were together; thus, the sound associated with Type 1 behaviour could have been emitted in such an interacting context (in reference to Buscaino et al 2015).…”

“…These sounds may result from very small rubbing movements of 2 body parts of an individual, as found for other crustacean species, which is difficult to observe (Guinot-Dumortier & Dumortier 1960, Boon et al 2009). Buscaino et al (2015) described the acoustic behaviour of the paddle crab Ovalipes trimaculatus. They showed that this species emitted pulse train signals similar in shape and acoustic features to those associated with the Type 1 behaviour in this study.…”

Hearing in the paddle crab, Ovalipes catharus

“…Intriguingly, recent unpublished work from our lab has shown that O. catharus produce three types of sounds: a low frequency 'bass' (frequency band), a medium frequency 'zip' (frequency band) and high frequency 'rasp' (frequency band), of which the first two fall well within the frequency band where O. catharus was most sensitive. However, the rasp sound, which is similar to the O. trimaculatus sound (Buscaino et al, 2015), falls outside the hearing range of O. catharus determined in this study.…”

“…This provides further evidence that there may be another, possibly pressure-sensitive, sensory system being used by decapod crustaceans to sense underwater sound. Buscaino et al, (2015) have shown that a European species from the same family, Ovalipes trimaculatus, produce sounds. This particular species produce broad frequency sound that differs between male (2900-11650 Hz) and females (2300-4100 Hz).…”

“…For example, it has been shown that sound is an important cue for many decapod crustaceans and fish larvae to orient (Simpson et al, 2005;Radford et al, 2007) to and settle (Radford et al, 2011;Stanley et al, 2012) in appropriate habitats. More recently, it has been found that crabs have the ability to produce sounds (Popper et al, 2001;Buscaino et al, 2015), although the behavioral significance of these sounds is yet to be determined. It must be noted, underwater sound is comprised of two components, particle motion and sound pressure, with particle motion being the acoustic stimulus detected by marine animals.…”