Marine hermit crabs as indicators of freshwater inundation on tropical shores

Abstract

The marine hermit crabs, Clibanarius taeniatus (H. Milne-Edwards, 1848) and C. virescens (Krauss, 1843) are common rocky intertidal species along the coast of Queensland, Australia. Laboratory experiments in dilute (8‰) seawater at 15°, 25°and 35°C over an extended period (up to 77 h) showed that C. taeniatus had significantly better survival than C. virescens. In extended exposure to a low salinity, estuarine environment C. taeniatus also survived significantly better than C. virescens. Repeated sampling at selected sites revealed that a site with no freshwater influence maintained a low percentage of C. taeniatus and high percentage of C. virescens, while at a site influenced by regular, low level freshwater runoff, the percentage of C. taeniatus remained high. A survey of the Queensland coast, showed that C. virescens tended to be more dominant on open coasts uninfluenced by freshwater, while C. taeniatus tended to be more abundant in areas influenced by freshwater. These two species therefore are a convenient indicator system for the influence of freshwater on tropical intertidal rocky shores and may therefore constitute an important management tool in areas experiencing coastal development with concomitant storm water runoff into marine habitats.

Lactate accumulation in the intertidal hermit crab, <i>Pagurus samuelis</i>, in response to burial-induced hypoxia

“…Because of physiological sensitivity of some species to freshwater they can be used as ecological indicators of hyposaline conditions (Dunbar, 2001;Dunbar & Coates, 2004;Dunbar et al, 2003;Hall et al, 1990). Freshwater inflow due to flooding is a common threat to animals living near the sediment-water interface and can include with it a significant amount of sediment (Maurer et al, 1981;McCall, 1978;Niedoroda et al, 1989).…”

Spatiotemporal distribution and population structure of Clibanariussymmetricus(Randall, 1840) (Crustacea, Diogenidae) in an Amazon estuary

“…The availability of gastropod shells and competition for this resource are also important factors influencing the distribution of hermit crab populations (Hazlett, 1981;Martinelli and Mantelatto, 1999;Bertini and Fransozo, 2000;Fransozo et al, 2008), including C. symmetricus (Sant' Anna et al, 2006b;Rodrigues and Martinelli-Lemos, 2016). Variation in the availability of food sources and the feeding behavior of the crabs may also have an important influence on the large-scale distribution of C. symmetricus (Dunbar et al, 2003).…”

“…The hermit crabs of the genus Clibanarius Dana, 1852 are common benthic anomurans that inhabit the intertidal zone in tropical and subtropical regions (Melo, 1999;Mantelatto et al, 2010), where they play an important role in the marine food chain and nutrient cycling (Negreiros-Fransozo et al, 1997;Fransozo and Mantelatto, 1998). These crabs are also important indicators of environmental change in the intertidal zone (Dunbar et al, 2003). A total of 60 valid Clibanarius species have been described from around the world (McLaughlin et al, 2010;Negri et al, 2014).…”

Species Diversity and Ecological Characteristics of Benthic Macroinvertebrates in the Intertidal Zone of Satun Province, Thailand and the First Record of Petersenaspis sp.

“…(Table II). These occurrences may partially determine that they are poorly being considered as indicator species to define the ecological characteristics because of their wider distribution ranges but they are appropriate enough to indicate environmental changes from pollution [19][20][21].…”