Salinity Detection and Associated Behavior in the Dungeness Crab, Cancer magister

Sugarman, Peter C.; Pearson, Walter H.; Woodruff, Dana L.

doi:10.2307/1351397

Cited by 31 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Cancer gracilis became quiescent, closing its mouthparts and retracting the antennae as soon as the salinity started to decrease. This closure response isolates the branchial chambers from the surrounding low salinity water (Sugarman et al, 1983). Because of the rapid isolation response as well as diffusive ion loss into a closed area, the water in the branchial chamber is held at a higher osmolality than the surrounding water (D. L. Curtis, E. K. Jensen and I. J. McGaw, manuscript submitted for publication).…”

Section: Feeding and Low Salinitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The efficient osmoregulators remain active, increasing cardiac and respiratory parameters (Dehnel, 1960;King, 1965;Engel et al, 1975;Hume and Berlind, 1976;Cumberlidge and Uglow, 1977;Taylor, 1977;Spaargaren, 1982;Guerin and Stickle, 1992;McGaw and Reiber, 1998). Weaker regulators tend to become inactive (Sugarman et al, 1983;McGaw et al, 1999) and show no change in oxygen uptake (Brown and Terwilliger, 1999) and mixed cardiac responses (McGaw and McMahon, 1996;McGaw and McMahon, 2003;McGaw, 2006a;Dufort et al, 2001). Osmoconformers show a decrease in activity (McGaw et al, 1999) (D. L. Curtis, E. K. Jensen and I. J. McGaw, manuscript submitted for publication) and cardiac and respiratory parameters (Figs·3, 4) (Spaargaren, 1973;Cornell, 1973;Cornell, 1974;Cornell, 1979;Savant and Amte, 1995).…”

Section: Feeding and Low Salinitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Feeding and digestion in low salinity in an osmoconforming crab, Cancer gracilis I. Cardiovascular and respiratory responses

McGaw

2006

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY The osmoregulatory physiology of decapod crustaceans has received extensive attention. Within this field there is a growing body of literature on cardiovascular and respiratory responses to low salinity. Most species exhibit a tachycardia coupled with an increase in ventilation rate and oxygen uptake. However, these previous experiments were conducted on animals that were starved prior to experimentation in order to avoid increases in metabolism associated with digestive processes. Because organisms are not necessarily starved prior to experiencing environmental perturbations, results from previous experiments may not represent natural physiological responses. The present study investigated how an osmoconforming decapod, the graceful crab Cancer gracilis, balanced the demands of physiological systems(prioritization or additivity of events) during feeding and digestion in a low salinity environment. Cancer gracilis exhibited a typical increase in oxygen uptake and less pronounced increases in cardiovascular variables (heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output) during feeding in 100% seawater. In 3-day starved crabs, exposure to 65% seawater resulted in a pronounced bradycardia,with a concomitant decrease in cardiac output and haemolymph flow rates and a temporary decrease in oxygen uptake. When crabs were exposed to low salinity,3 h and 24 h after food ingestion, heart rate increased slightly and cardiac output and ventilation rates remained stable. Although oxygen uptake decreased transiently, feeding levels were quickly regained. During a recovery phase in 100%SW there was an overshoot in parameters, suggesting repayment of an oxygen debt. Thus, it appears that feeding and digestion are prioritized in this species, allowing it to survive acute exposure to hyposaline water. Furthermore, the results show that the nutritional state of an animal is important in modulating its physiological responses to environmental perturbations. This underscores the importance of studying physiological responses at the whole organism level under conditions closely approximating those of the natural environment.

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Section: Feeding and Low Salinitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Feeding and Low Salinitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding and digestion in low salinity in an osmoconforming crab, Cancer gracilis I. Cardiovascular and respiratory responses

McGaw

2006

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Dungeness crabs can detect a 4% decrease and 5% increase from ambient salinity (Sugarman et al 1983) and exhibit behavioral responses to lowered salinity that serve to isolate the osmoregulatory organs from the changing salinity (Sugarman et al 1983, McGaw et al 1999. Sugarman et al (1983) found that the threshold at which 50% of Dungeness crab close their mouthparts and seal the branchial chamber was 50% seawater (15.5 o/oo).…”

Section: Salinity Influences On Crab Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimated Entrainment of Dungeness Crab During Dredging For The Columbia River Channel Improvement Project

Pearson¹,

Williams²,

Skalski³

2002

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The scientific literature, analyses of salinity intrusion scenarios, and the summer 2002 site-specific data on entrainment and salinity all indicate that bottom salinity influences crab distribution and entrainment, especially at lower salinities. It is now clear from field measurements of entrainment rates and salinity during a period of low river flow (90-150 Kcfs) and high salinity intrusion that entrainment rates are zero where bottom salinity is less than 16 o/oo most of the time. Further, entrainment rates for 2+ and older crab decline in a clear and consistent manner as salinity decreases. More elaboration of the crab distribution-salinity model is needed, especially concerning salinity and the movements of 1+ crab.vii viii CONTENTS

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“…Dungeness crabs are opportunistic omnivores, with ontogenetic diet shifts ranging from decomposing organic matter, microalgae, and diatoms to bivalves, shrimp, and fish as individuals mature (Stevens et al 1982, Jensen andAsplen 1998). They are poor osmoregulators but can venture into upper estuaries during periods of high food abundance, which has been observed to coincide with the presence of spawning salmon (Sugarman et al 1983, Curtis and McGaw 2012. Individuals have been observed scavenging on salmon carcasses in estuaries during fall salmon runs (J. M. S. Harding, personal observation) and Dungeness crab stable isotope ratios can be enriched relative to salmon (Christensen et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From earth and ocean: investigating the importance of cross‐ecosystem resource linkages to a mobile estuarine consumer

Harding

Reynolds

2014

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Externally derived resources often contribute to the structuring of ecological communities.Estuaries are one of the most productive ecosystems in the world and provide an ideal system to test how communities may be shaped by resource subsidies because they occur at the intersection of marine, freshwater and terrestrial habitats. Here we tested the effects of both terrestrial-and salmon-derived subsidies, in addition to other factors such as habitat area, on the diet (inferred from stable isotopes), abundance and size of a mobile estuarine consumer, the Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister). Crab trap surveys encompassed 19 watersheds over two seasons in the central coast of British Columbia, Canada, which spanned natural gradients in estuary size, watershed size, riparian tree composition, and Pacific salmon spawning density. Stable isotope ratios of crab tissue confirmed the predictions that estuarine nutrient regimes can be strongly affected by upstream watershed size, salmon density, and the dominance of nitrogen-fixing red alder (Alnus rubra). There were more crabs in larger estuaries and the largest crabs were found in estuaries below the largest watersheds. The proportional contributions of terrestrial-and salmon-derived subsidies to the diet of Dungeness crabs increased with watershed size and salmon density, respectively. These results confirmed that resource subsidies can constitute large proportions of the Dungeness crab's diet, that crab abundance is determined by habitat size, but that crab size is affected by the magnitude of terrestrial resource influx.

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Salinity Detection and Associated Behavior in the Dungeness Crab, Cancer magister

Cited by 31 publications

References 34 publications

Feeding and digestion in low salinity in an osmoconforming crab, Cancer gracilis I. Cardiovascular and respiratory responses

Feeding and digestion in low salinity in an osmoconforming crab, Cancer gracilis I. Cardiovascular and respiratory responses

Estimated Entrainment of Dungeness Crab During Dredging For The Columbia River Channel Improvement Project

From earth and ocean: investigating the importance of cross‐ecosystem resource linkages to a mobile estuarine consumer

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