Concurrent Signals and Behavioral Plasticity in Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus Rathbun) Courtship

Bushmann, Paul J.

doi:10.2307/1542997

Cited by 36 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Courtship paddling by male blue crabs has been described in several studies (Teytaud, 1971;Gleeson, 1980;Gleeson, 1991;Wood and Derby, 1995;Jivoff and Hines, 1998;Bushmann, 1999). The definition of paddling display that we use in this paper follows Teytaud's original definition, with some modifications.…”

Section: Courtship Display Of Male Blue Crabsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…For example, Wood and Derby (Wood and Derby, 1995) used eye ligation instead of stimulation by female odour as a more reliable releaser of courtship paddling. In addition, the courtship display, including paddling, is not an essential prelude to successful precopulatory pair bonding (Teytaud, 1971;Gleeson, 1991;Jivoff and Hines, 1998;Bushmann, 1999). Male-male competition is one factor that increases the frequency of courtship display, and this has been demonstrated in blue crabs (Jivoff and Hines, 1998).…”

Section: Courtship Display Of Male Blue Crabsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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To paddle or not: context dependent courtship display by male blue crabs,Callinectes sapidus

Kamio

Reidenbach

Derby

2008

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYThe nature of the courtship signalling used by a species is shaped by many factors, one of which is its habitat. Male blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus, have a courtship display in which they elevate their body by standing high on their legs, open their chelae and paddle their swimming legs. This courtship display is not reported in other swimming (portunid) crabs and is rarely expressed in laboratory experiments on male blue crabs. In this study, we characterised this display, which we call ʻcourtship stationary paddlingʼ, and distinguished it from other types of paddling. To explain the species specificity of courtship stationary paddling, we hypothesised that this behaviour is an adaptation to low visibility and abundant refuges in the habitat of blue crabs, and that this behaviour enhances chemical signalling when females are relatively inaccessible to males. We used particle imaging velocimetry to visualise water currents generated during courtship stationary paddling, showing that it created water currents directed away from the male and towards the female, thus enhancing chemical signalling. We also showed that males did not perform courtship stationary paddling when females were freely walking such that males could quickly contact and cradle carry them. Rather, males typically performed courtship stationary paddling only when females were inaccessible to them. These results indicate that courtship stationary paddling is a context-dependent behaviour, occurring only when females are not accessible to males, and suggesting that it evolved as an adaptation to life in habitats with many refuges and low visibility. Supplementary material available online at

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Section: Courtship Display Of Male Blue Crabsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Courtship Display Of Male Blue Crabsmentioning

confidence: 99%

To paddle or not: context dependent courtship display by male blue crabs,Callinectes sapidus

Kamio

Reidenbach

Derby

2008

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Prior studies established that male blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus, have complex chemical signals, likely incorporating both urine and nonurine sources (Bushmann 1999). During courtship, these males sometimes adopt a stationary paddling display in which they paddle their swimming legs while standing in an elevated position with their chelae open (Kamio et al 2008).…”

Section: Chemical and Visual Multimodal Signalingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical Communication in a Multimodal Context

Hebets¹,

Rundus²

2010

Chemical Communication in Crustaceans

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All animals are equipped with multiple sensory systems (e.g., visual, chemical, acoustic, tactile, electrical, thermal), and signals perceived via these sensory systems facilitate communication. Such communication often involves displays that incorporate more than one signal from more than one sensory modality, resulting in multimodal signaling. The number of empirical and theoretical studies addressing issues of multimodal signaling is ever-increasing and this chapter highlights why crustaceans, as a taxonomic group, are ideal for advancing such studies. Early classifications of multimodal signaling sought to categorize signal components as either redundant or nonredundant, while more recent classifications lay out specific hypotheses relating to multimodal signal function. Two common empirical approaches used in studying multimodal signaling involve signal isolation and signal playback designs-both of which are extremely amenable to crustaceans.Chemical communication is considered the oldest and most widespread channel for communication, and as such, it is not surprising that numerous crustaceans incorporate chemical signals into multimodal displays. In this chapter, we review multimodal signaling in crustaceans with a focus on those displays that incorporate a chemical component. Specifically, we highlight examples of taxa that combine chemical and hydrodynamic as well as chemical and visual cues. We conclude that despite the plethora of excellent studies examining crustacean responses to isolated signal components, relatively few studies are couched in a communication framework-ultimately limiting the conclusions that can currently be drawn with respect to multimodal signal evolution and function in crustaceans. We suggest that future studies using a hypothesis-testing framework of multimodal signal function could greatly advance our understanding of multimodal signaling in this group. Furthermore, studies involving signal manipulations and correlations between signaler attributes and variation in signal form could be extremely informative. These avenues are wide open for crustacean biologists. We argue that several aspects of crustacean 336

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“…However, in other crustaceans, mechanisms for species recognition occur through chemosensory cues released by females during mating (Bushmann 1999;Atema and Steinbach 2007). For example, among species of freshwater shrimps of the genus Macrobrachium, females of one species are not able to induce spermatophore release in males of another species (Graziani et al 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conspecific communication signals are expected to control and regulate courtship and reproductive behaviours to prevent interspecific matings (Bushmann 1999). In crustaceans, this communication is based on chemical, acoustic and visual signals, being the first ones of major importance in most aquatic species (Jones and Hartnoll 1997;Díaz and Thiel 2004 and references therein).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absence of a prezygotic behavioural barrier to gene flow between the two sympatric morphs of the squat lobster Munida gregaria (Fabricius, 1793) (Decapoda: Anomura: Galatheidae)

2011

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Munida gregaria and M. subrugosa have been considered two different species for more than a century; however, after a recent molecular phylogenetic study, they are considered a single polymorphic species. Yet, the use of markers to diagnose species may be misleading when divergence between species is recent, since a speciation event may be obscured by the retention and stochastic sorting of ancestral polymorphisms. The morphs gregaria and subrugosa of Munida gregaria constitute an interesting case for the study of behavioural isolation since they are sympatric, breed at the same time of the year, and might have experienced a recent speciation. Mating behaviour observations and mate choice mating trials were conducted in order to investigate the potential existence of a behavioural prezygotic barrier to gene flow between these two morphs. Since factors involved in mate choice in galatheids are unknown, the four possible combinations of the two different morphs in trios were used to test for the existence of mate choice. Video recordings of all the possible trio combinations revealed that there was cross-attraction between males and females of different morphs. Females bearing partial broods participated in encounters as well as non-ovigerous females. The frequency and duration of homo-and heterotypic encounters were registered, and a reproductive isolation index was calculated for each variable for each trio. The isolation indexes calculated were not different from zero indicating random mating, and were not affected by the composition of the trio or the partial ovigerous condition of females. These results provided evidence of the absence of behavioural prezygotic barriers to gene flow between the morphs gregaria and subrugosa of M. gregaria.

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Concurrent Signals and Behavioral Plasticity in Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus Rathbun) Courtship

Cited by 36 publications

References 43 publications

To paddle or not: context dependent courtship display by male blue crabs,Callinectes sapidus

To paddle or not: context dependent courtship display by male blue crabs,Callinectes sapidus

Chemical Communication in a Multimodal Context

Absence of a prezygotic behavioural barrier to gene flow between the two sympatric morphs of the squat lobster Munida gregaria (Fabricius, 1793) (Decapoda: Anomura: Galatheidae)

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