Identification of a female sex pheromone in Carcinus maenas

Hardege, Jörg D.; Bartels‐Hardege, Helga; Fletcher, Nichola; Terschak, John A.; Harley, Maggy A.; Smith, Michelle A.; Davidson, Laura; Hayden, Dominic; Müller, Chris J.; Lorch, Mark; Welham, Kevin J.; Walther, Thomas; Bublitz, Ralf

doi:10.3354/meps09226

Cited by 29 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…These findings strongly indicate that olfaction is a key driver in copulatory behavior or at least is necessary for finding a receptive female. Furthermore, behavioral studies have shown that males of C. maenas are attracted by female pheromones during the mating period, thus providing additional evidence, at least in males, for a well-developed olfactory sense (Bamber and Naylor 1996;Eales 1973;Hardege et al 2011). As far as anomuran crustaceans are concerned, it has to be noted that this group has achieved model status to study the interplay of chemical ecology, olfactory-guided and social behavior, leaving little doubt about their olfactory abilities (reviews: Gherardi and Tricarico 2007;Gherardi and Tricarico 2011).…”

Section: Deutocerebrum and Olfactory Pathwaymentioning

confidence: 98%

Comparative brain architecture of the European shore crab Carcinus maenas (Brachyura) and the common hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus (Anomura) with notes on other marine hermit crabs

et al. 2012

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The European shore crab Carcinus maenas and the common hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus are members of the sister taxa Brachyura and Anomura (together forming the taxon Meiura) respectively. Both species share similar coastal marine habitats and thus are confronted with similar environmental conditions. This study sets out to explore variations of general brain architecture of species that live in seemingly similar habitats but belong to different major malacostracan taxa and to understand possible differences of sensory systems and related brain compartments. We examined the brains of Carcinus maenas, Pagurus bernhardus, and three other hermit crab species with immunohistochemistry against tyrosinated tubulin, f-actin, synaptic proteins, RF-amides and allatostatin. Our comparison showed that their optic neuropils within the eyestalks display strong resemblance in gross morphology as well as in detailed organization, suggesting a rather similar potential of processing visual input. Besides the well-developed visual system, the olfactory neuropils are distinct components in the brain of both C. maenas and P. bernhardus as well as the other hermit crabs, suggesting that close integration of olfactory and visual information may be useful in turbid marine environments with low visibility, as is typical for many habitats such as, e.g., the Baltic and the North Sea. Comparing the shape of the olfactory glomeruli in the anomurans showed some variations, ranging from a wedge shape to an elongate morphology. Furthermore, the tritocerebrum and the organization of the second antennae associated with the tritocerebrum seem to differ markedly in C. maenas and P. bernhardus, indicating better mechanosensory abilities in the latter close to those of other Decapoda with long second antennae, such as Astacida, Homarida, or Achelata. This aspect may also represent an adaptation to the "hermit lifestyle" in which competition for shells is a major aspect of their life history. The shore crab C. maenas, on the other hand seems to rely much less on mechanosensory information mediated by the second antennae but in water, the visual and the olfactory senses seem to be the most important modalities.

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Section: Deutocerebrum and Olfactory Pathwaymentioning

confidence: 98%

Comparative brain architecture of the European shore crab Carcinus maenas (Brachyura) and the common hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus (Anomura) with notes on other marine hermit crabs

et al. 2012

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“…Much effort has been undertaken in the search for sex pheromones in decapod crustaceans, but only a few compounds have been identified and reported as sex pheromones or potential sex pheromones (Gleeson et al 1984 ; Hardege et al 2002 , 2011 ; Kamio et al 2000 , 2002 ; Kamio 2009 ). If candidate substances appear, their pheromonal activity could be confirmed by using the behavioral bioassay presented here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sex pheromones play important roles in reproductive interactions within crustaceans (Dunham 1988 ; Breithaupt and Thiel 2011 ). It is known that females release sex pheromones that induce reproductive behavior of mating partners in many crustaceans, such as in the blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Gleeson 1980 ) and the shore crab Carcinus maenas (Christofferson 1978 ; Bamber and Naylor 1996 ), and many efforts to identify such pheromones have been conducted as well (Kittredge et al 1971 ; Gleeson et al 1984 ; Asai et al 2000 ; Hardege et al 2002 ; Bublitz et al 2008 ; Kamio 2009 ; Hardege et al 2011 ; Hardege and Teschak 2011 ; Kamio et al 2014 ; Yano et al 2016 ). However, there is no complete identification of sex pheromone candidate molecules in decapod crustaceans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral assay and chemical characters of female sex pheromones in the hermit crab Pagurus filholi

Okamura

Kawaminami

Matsuura

et al. 2017

J Ethol

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Males of the hermit crab Pagurus filholi perform assessment behavior toward females, as a preliminary step of precopulatory guarding, during the reproductive season. It is known that such behavior is elicited by female sex pheromones, but the compounds involved have never been characterized in this species. Several experiments were conducted to develop a reliable bioassay along with purification procedures to identify potential compounds with pheromonal activity in Pagurus filholi. We developed a bioassay protocol to assess pheromonal activity by using an empty shell with cotton containing either artificial seawater (control) or test water. We measured and compared the time duration of male assessment behavior toward each shell if the test water contained female sex pheromones. Ultra-filtering of seawater samples potentially containing pheromones showed that the compound was <1 kDa in molecular weight. Males showed precopulatory assessment behavior toward “female conditioned” water samples treated with open column purification and eluted with MeOH, suggesting that compounds triggering male behavior were low polar molecules. Molecules with pheromonal activity were not volatile after freeze drying, effective even after heating to 90 °C, and remained active in seawater at 12 °C even after 6 days from sample collection, which suggests a rather stable characteristic of the female sex pheromones of this species.

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“…Crustecdysone, a molting hormone, was reported as a sex pheromone in several brachyuran crab species (Kittredge et al, 1971;Kittredge and Takahashi, 1972). Uridine diphosphate (UDP), which was identified by bioassay-guided fractionation as a stimulant of male sexual behavior in Carcinus maenas, is accumulated from UDP-N-acetylglucosamine during chitin biosynthesis in molting (Hardege et al, 2011). These molecules, including NAGL, are supposed to be widely distributed in molting crustaceans, and can be components of the sex pheromone bouquet in these and other crustacean species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Four such species include the blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Gleeson, 1980); the shore crab Carcinus maenas (Eales, 1973;Bamber and Naylor, 1997); the three spot swimming crab Portunus sanguinolentus (Ryan, 1966); and the helmet crab Telmessus cheiragonus (Kamio et al, 2000). Since the release of pheromones is linked to molting in these species, metabolites that increase in concentration in the urine of--or in the water surrounding--premolt females have been reported as the potential sex pheromone, or one of the components of a pheromone bouquet (Kittredge et al, 1971;Asai et al, 2000;Hardege et al, 2011;Kamio et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Molting Biomarker Metabolite N-acetylglucosamino-1,5-lactone in Female Urine of the Helmet Crab Telmessus cheiragonus

Yano

Kamio

Nagai

2016

The Biological Bulletin

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N-acetylglucosamino-1,5-lactone (NAGL) is a molting biomarker in the blue crab Callinectes sapidus The concentration of this compound in urine is highest at the premolt stage. Since sexually mature premolt females release sex pheromone in their urine, NAGL is a candidate sex pheromone molecule in C. sapidus This compound has not been reported in other species. In the present study, we quantified the concentration of NAGL in the urine of the helmet crab Telmessus cheiragonus, using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and found that the concentration increases toward the day of molting and decreases after molting. However, the total amount of NAGL collected from individual animals was greatest two to five days after molting, because the amount of urine collected was the lowest at the premolt stage, and it increased after molting. The highest median concentration of NAGL in T. cheiragonas was 29 μmol l(-1), which is 75% of the highest concentration reported in C. sapidus This is the first report of NAGL as a molting biomarker in a species other than C. sapidus We assume that NAGL is part of a pheromone bouquet in these two species.

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Identification of a female sex pheromone in Carcinus maenas

Cited by 29 publications

References 52 publications

Comparative brain architecture of the European shore crab Carcinus maenas (Brachyura) and the common hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus (Anomura) with notes on other marine hermit crabs

Comparative brain architecture of the European shore crab Carcinus maenas (Brachyura) and the common hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus (Anomura) with notes on other marine hermit crabs

Behavioral assay and chemical characters of female sex pheromones in the hermit crab Pagurus filholi

The Molting Biomarker Metabolite N-acetylglucosamino-1,5-lactone in Female Urine of the Helmet Crab Telmessus cheiragonus

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