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Behavioural Responses of Hermit Crabs to Shell Cues, Predator Haemolymph And Body Odour

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Dan Rittschof  and
Brian A. Hazlett
Dan Rittschof
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Marine Laboratory, Duke University, Beaufort, NC 28516–9721, USA.
Brian A. Hazlett
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
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Extract

This study tested the hypothesis that predator odours alter behavioural responses of hermit crabs to other chemical stimuli. Stimuli that cause alarm and shell-related behaviour (hermit crab haemolymph and two gastropod flesh extracts), and stimuli that did not cause shell-related behaviour (sea-water and predator haemolymph) were used. Individual hermit crab responses to stimuli were observed in ambient sea-water and predator odour. In the absence of predator odour, hermit crab haemolymph and gastropod flesh extracts stimulated shell grasping behaviour. Locomotion was the major response to sea-water and stone crab haemolymph. Crabs behaved consistently when repeatedly exposed to a particular stimulus. In general, addition of predator odour to mixtures, resulted in decreased shell grasping and increased locomotion. Shell fit was a poor predictor of behaviour for the size range of crabs tested. Hermit crabs respond to, and discriminate, a variety of complex odour mixtures.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 77 , Issue 3 , August 1997 , pp. 737 - 751
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1997

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