Ecological rôle of ghost crabs, Ocypode quadrata (Fabricius) on an ocean beach: Scavengers or predators?

Wolcott, Thomas G.

doi:10.1016/0022-0981(78)90137-5

Cited by 161 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…They were, on several occasions during the night, observed close to the water's edge. It is possible that at these times they were feeding upon the littoral infauna as reported for some other Ocypode species (Vannini, 1976;Wolcott, 1978;Eshky, 1985). These incidental observations on feeding require further work in order to establish the full range of natural diet.…”

Section: Feedingmentioning

confidence: 92%

Studies on the ecology and behaviour of the ghost crab, <i>Ocypode cursor</i> (L.) in northern Cyprus

Strachan¹,

Smith²,

Hamilton³

et al. 1999

Sci. Mar.

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SUMMARY: Aspects of the ecology and behaviour of Ocypode cursor were studied on the beaches of Northern Cyprus. The crabs were widely distributed around the north coast of the island, occurring on 68 of the 77 sandy beaches investigated. At the main study beach at Alagadi, crabs occupied a band approximately 12 m wide; starting approximately 3 m horizontally from the edge of the sea (tidal fluctuation was minimal). Most small burrows occurred near to the sea, with the burrows of larger crabs predominating higher up the beach. Burrow numbers varied during the summer which was mainly attributable to variations in the numbers of burrows of juveniles. The sex ratio of emergent crabs also varied during the summer, possibly reflecting burrow oriented behaviour of reproductive females. There were strong correlations between burrow diameters and carapace lengths of the occupant crabs. There was a positive correlation between the presence of crab burrows and the number of people using sections of beach. The crabs were principally nocturnal, benefitting from food discarded by tourists. They also scavenged animal carcasses and were active predators of turtle eggs and hatchlings. Crab burrows usually had a single opening oriented towards the sea and those cast were L-or J-shaped. Burrows did not penetrate to the water table. The water content of the sand at the bottom of burrows was around 14 % by weight. Their burrows in the well-sorted sand provided the crabs with a thermally stable environment.

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Section: Feedingmentioning

confidence: 92%

Studies on the ecology and behaviour of the ghost crab, <i>Ocypode cursor</i> (L.) in northern Cyprus

Strachan¹,

Smith²,

Hamilton³

et al. 1999

Sci. Mar.

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“…En cada estrato se delimitó una parcela de 100m 2 (50x2m) dentro de la cual se seleccionaron cinco réplicas de 4m 2 (2x2m), considerada la unidad de muestreo, para un total de 45 unidades de muestreo por playa. En cada unidad de muestreo se contó el número de galerías, este censo indirecto del número de individuos se ha empleado en otros estudios (Wolcott 1978, Fisher & Tevesz 1979, Warren 1990, Alberto & Fontoura 1999, Barros 2001, Turra et al 2005, Moss & McPhee 2006, Neves & Bemvenuti 2006. Se consideraron como galerías ocupadas aquellas en las que se evidenció la existencia de actividad de excavación debido a la presencia de montículos de arena húmeda.…”

Section: Materiales Y Métodosunclassified

“…El diámetro de la abertura de cada galería se midió con un calibre digital (0.01mm) también como una medida indirecta de la talla (Wolcott 1978, Fisher & Tevesz 1979, Alberto & Fontoura 1999, Turra et al 2005. El tamaño de la abertura de la galería se separó en dos clases de tallas: jóvenes (menor de 25mm) y adultos (mayor de 25mm).…”

Section: Materiales Y Métodosunclassified

“…Este organismo tiene un importante papel en la transferencia de energía en diferentes niveles tróficos pues, además de sus hábi-tos alimentarios como depredador y carroñero (Wolcott 1978), también puede extraer las microalgas que se encuentran en los sedimentos (Robertson & Pfeiffer 1982). En playas de Brasil se han documentado aspectos relacionados con la distribución espacial de O. quadrata (Turra et al 2005, Neves & Bemvenuti 2006, Rosa & Borzone 2008, Araujo et al 2008) y con la variación espacio-temporal de su abundancia, así como la influencia de los depredadores sobre la estructura poblacional de la especie (Branco et al 2010).…”

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Distribución espacial de Ocypode quadrata (Decapoda: Ocypodidae) en ocho playas de la zona norte oriental de Cuba

Ocaña

Vega

Córdova

2012

RBT

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Spatial distribution of Ocypode quadrata (Decapoda: Ocypodidae) in eight beaches of NorthEastern Cuba. Studies on the ecology of Ocypode quadrata have been mostly carried out in the Northern and Southern part of its distribution range. In despite that this species is common in Cuban beaches, there are no quantitative studies regarding its abundance and spatial distribution. The aim of this study was to report some aspects about the spatial variation of O. quadrata density in sandy beaches, with different levels of human influence, in the North coast of Eastern Cuba. For this, on May 2010, eight beaches with different levels of human influence were surveyed. On each beach, the number of crabs burrows were counted in 45 quadrats of 4m 2 located in three different strata (P1, P2 and P3). According to burrow opening diameter, crabs were separated into young and adults forms. To determine the existence of statistical differences in the density of crab burrows among beaches and strata, a two-way ANOVA was developed with a Scheffé-procedure post hoc test. A total of 355 burrows were counted in 360 sample units. The composition by size classes was 237 burrows for young and 118 for adults. From the total of burrows, 74% were located in P1, 20% in P2 and 6% in P3. The higher concentration of burrows was found at Jiguaní beach (0.52±0.08 burrows/m 2 ) while the lesser concentration was found at Estero Ciego beach (0.06±0.01 burrows/m 2 ). Most of the beaches did not present significant differences in the burrows density (Scheffé, p>0.05), according to ANOVA results, in despite their different human influence level. Density of individuals was significantly higher in the upper intertidal (P1) areas (Scheffé, p<0.05) with predominance of young crabs. Total density diminished in P2 and P3 strata where a predominance of adult individuals was observed. The interaction term of beach and strata evidenced that the pattern of variation among strata was not the same for all beaches. The general pattern of adults and young specimen spatial distribution in the beaches was very similar to those reported in the literature. In the present study, the first conducted in Cuban beaches, we did not find evidence of direct relationship between the level of human impact and the density of ghost crab burrows. Rev. Biol. Trop. 60 (3): 1177-1186. Epub 2012 September 01.

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“…Alguns estudos sugerem que esta espécie pode ser bastante sensível as alterações climáticas, como variações na intensidade dos ventos, temperatura e altura das ondas, sendo que, em condições adversas, não é possível observar nenhum sinal da espécie nas praias (Wolcott, 1978;Alberto e Fontoura, 1999). Além das adversidades naturais, as populações de O. quadrata em praias com elevado grau de antropização, são submetidas a uma série de perturbações como, supressão do habitat, pisoteamento por pessoas, deposição de lixo, tráfego de veículos e em algumas praias o reviramento do sedimento causado pelos veículos responsáveis pela limpeza das mesmas (Wolcott e Wolcott, 1984;Turra et al, 2005;Blankensteyn, 2006;Schlacher et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Densidade e distribuição espacial do caranguejo Ocypode quadrata (Fabricius, 1787) (Crustacea, Ocypodidae) em três praias arenosas do Espírito Santo, Brasil

2008

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Submetido em 11/02/2008 Aceito para publicação em 25/06/2008Resumo A densidade relativa (n o de tocas/m 2 ) e a distribuição espacial do caranguejo Ocypode quadrata foram avaliadas em três praias arenosas do município de Vila Velha-ES: Itaparica, Itapoã e Praia da Costa. Nas três praias, as amostragens foram conduzidas nos dias 25/05, 13/06, 26/06 e 11/07/2006. Em cada dia, foram distribuídos aleatoriamente por praia, dois transectos de 5m de largura perpendiculares a linha d'água, divididos em retângulos de 2 x 5m, abrangendo toda faixa de areia. Em cada transecto, todas as tocas foram contadas, os diâmetros da abertura foram medidos (mm) e a localização em relação à linha d'água de cada toca foi anotada. A praia de Itaparica apresentou a maior densidade média de tocas (média = 0,33, DP = ± 0,26), seguida pela Praia da Costa (0,16 ± 0,14) e Itapoã (0,08 ± 0,02). Com relação ao diâmetro das tocas, Itaparica e Itapoã possuíram as maiores médias (16,2 ± 8,88; 16,2 ± 8,91, respectivamente) e Praia da Costa a menor (12,6 ± 6,40). A densidade e o diâmetro das tocas diferiram signi¿ cativamente entre as praias. Foi observado que as tocas de menor diâmetro predominaram nas áreas próximas à linha d'água e as tocas com maiores diâmetros na parte superior da praia. O À uxo de pessoas e a passagem do veículo de limpeza parece inÀ uenciarem na densidade e nos padrões de distribuição espacial encontrados para O. quadrata.Unitermos: impacto antrópico, Vila Velha, caranguejo-fantasma, guruçá AbstractDensity and spatial distribution of the crab Ocypode quadrata (Fabricius, 1787) (Crustacea, Ocypodidae) on three sandy beaches of Espírito Santo, Brazil. The relative density (number of burrows/m 2 ) and spatial distribution of the crab Ocypode quadrata were evaluated on three sandy beaches of Vila Velha-ES: Itaparica, Itapoã and Praia da Costa. These beaches were sampled on 05/25, 06/13, 06/26 and 07/11/2006. On Biotemas, 21 (4): 73-80, dezembro de 2008

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Ecological rôle of ghost crabs, Ocypode quadrata (Fabricius) on an ocean beach: Scavengers or predators?

Cited by 161 publications

References 14 publications

Studies on the ecology and behaviour of the ghost crab, <i>Ocypode cursor</i> (L.) in northern Cyprus

Studies on the ecology and behaviour of the ghost crab, <i>Ocypode cursor</i> (L.) in northern Cyprus

Distribución espacial de Ocypode quadrata (Decapoda: Ocypodidae) en ocho playas de la zona norte oriental de Cuba

Densidade e distribuição espacial do caranguejo Ocypode quadrata (Fabricius, 1787) (Crustacea, Ocypodidae) em três praias arenosas do Espírito Santo, Brasil

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