Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T02:25:08.256Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Activity Rhythms Of The Squat Lobsters, Galathea Squamifera And G. Strigosa (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) In South-West Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

S. De Grave  and
J.R. Turner
S. De Grave
Affiliation:
Aquatic Services Unit, Department of Zoology, University College Cork, Lee Makings, Prospect Row, Cork, Ireland.
J.R. Turner
Affiliation:
School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, Menai Bridge, Gwynedd, LL57 5EY
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

This short note describes the in situ activity cycles of Galathea squamifera and G. strigosa (Crustacea: Decapoda) through SCUBA diving observations in south-west Ireland. Both species exhibited nocturnal activity peaks, although they were not exclusively nocturnal. Fluctuating tidal current strength and direction had no discernible influence on either species’ activity cycles. It is suggested that shelters, particularly in terms of both predator avoidance and as foraging areas, play an important role in the ecology of both species.

Both the anomuran decapod crustaceans Galathea squamifera Leach and G. strigosa (L.) are widespread throughout the rocky subtidal of the north-west European coastline. In contrast to the general body morphology and the structure of the mouthparts which have been well studied (Nicol, 1932; Pike, 1947), the biology and ecology of the genus Galathea remains poorly studied. These morphological studies have shown that the mouthparts are ill-adapted to living on muddy substrates, essentially restricting the distribution of both G. squamifera and G. strigosa to rocky areas, where their food is obtained by detrital deposit feeding and scavenging. Turner & Warman (1991) have studied the activity patterns of the genus Galathea at Lough Hyne, southwest Ireland and concluded that the genus exhibits nocturnal activity peaks. However, the different species were not distinguished, nor was the potential effect of the aberrant tidal patterns in the area considered. As at least three species (G. squamifera, G. strigosa, G. intermedia) are known to occur at the study site (Holmes, 1985), the present study was initiated to elucidate the activity cycles at a species-specific level.

Type
Short Communications
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 77 , Issue 1 , February 1997 , pp. 273 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bassindale, R., Davenport, E., Ebling, F.J., Kitching, J.A., Sleigh, M.A. & Sloane, J.F., 1957. The ecology of the Lough Ine rapids with special reference to water current. VI. Effects of the rapids on the hydrography of the south basin. Journal of Ecology, 45, 879–900.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, R.A. & Uzmann, J.R., 1977. Ecology of juvenile and adult Homarus. In The biology and management of lobsters. Vol. 2. Ecology and management (ed. J.S., Cobb and B.F., Phillips), pp. 97–142. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hiscock, K., 1983. Water movement. In Sublittoral ecology: the ecology of the shallow sublittoml benthos (ed. R., Earll and D.G., Erwin), pp. 58–96. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Holmes, J.M.C., 1985. Crustacean records from L. Ine, Co. Cork, part III. Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society, 8, 33–40.Google Scholar
Howard, A.E. & Nunny, R.S., 1983. Effects of near-bed current speeds on the distribution and behaviour of the lobster Homarus gammarus (L.) Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 71, 27–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kanciruk, P., 1980. Ecology of juvenile and adult Palinuridae (spiny lobsters). In The biology and management of lobsters. Vol. 2. Ecology and management (ed. J.S., Cobb and B.F., Phillips), pp. 59–96. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Lyle, J.M., 1983. Food and feeding habits of the lesser spotted dogfish, Scyliorhimis canicula (L.), in Isle of Man waters. Journal of Fish Biology, 23, 725–737.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicol, E.A.T., 1932. The feeding habits of the Galatheidae. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 18, 87–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pike, R.B., 1947. Galathea. Liverpool Marine Biology Committee Memoirs, 34, 1–115.Google Scholar
Samuelsen, T.J., 1970. The biology of six species of Anomura (Crustacea, Decapoda) from Raunefjorden, western Norway. Sarsia, 45, 25–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sayer, M.D.J., Gibson, R.N. & Atkinson, R.J.A., 1995. Growth, diet and condition of goldsinny on the west coast of Scotland. Journal of Fish Biology, 46, 317–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, J.R. & Warman, C.G., 1991. The mobile fauna of sublittoral cliffs. In The ecology of Lough Hyne (ed. A.A., Myers et al.), pp. 127–138. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy.Google Scholar
Zariquiey, Alvarez R., 1968. Crustaceos Decapodos Ibericos. Investigacion Pesquera. Barcelona, 32, 1–510.Google Scholar