Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T06:10:55.284Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Geographical variation of barricade-building behaviour in the intertidal brachyuran crab Ilyoplax pusilla

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2008

Fumiko Furukawa ,
Arisa Yamada ,
Mari Ohata  and
Keiji Wada
Fumiko Furukawa
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Nara Women's University, Nara, 630-8506Japan
Arisa Yamada
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Nara Women's University, Nara, 630-8506Japan
Mari Ohata
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Nara Women's University, Nara, 630-8506Japan
Keiji Wada*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Nara Women's University, Nara, 630-8506Japan
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Keiji Wada Department of Biological Sciences Faculty of ScienceNara Women's University, Nara, 630-8506Japan email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The small dotillid crab Ilyoplax pusilla builds an earthen structure, termed barricade, close to its neighbour's burrow. Barricades function for territorial defence by deterring invasion by neighbours. Comparison of the frequency of barricade building in the breeding season among 5 localities across the geographical range of I. pusilla, showed higher values at more northern localities. In two localities differing in the frequency of barricade building, the response of crabs to artificial barricades placed near their burrows was examined. The artificial barricade was less often broken and more often avoided in the locality with the higher frequency of barricades. These results suggest that the local difference in frequency of barricade building is correlated with a difference in how crabs respond to this earthen barrier.

Keywords

Ilyoplax pusilladotillid crabbarricadeintertidalgeographical variation
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Issue 5 , August 2008 , pp. 967 - 973
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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

Bloch, N. and Irschlick, D.J. (2006) An analysis of inter-population divergence in visual display behavior of the green anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis). Ethology 112, 370–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delgado, R.A. Jr. (2007) Geographic variation in the long calls of male orangutans (Pongo spp.). Ethology 113, 487–498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Etges, W., Over, K.F., Oliveira, C.C.D. and Richie, M. (2006) Inheritance of courtship song variation among geographically isolated populations of Drosophila mojavensis. Animal Behaviour 71, 1205–1214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henmi, Y. and Kaneto, M. (1989) Reproductive ecology of three ocypodid crabs. I. The influence of activity differences on reproductive traits. Ecological Research 4, 17–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitaura, J., Wada, K. and Nishida, M. (1998) Molecular phylogeny and evolution of uniqe mud-using territorial behavior in ocypodid crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura: Ocypodidae). Molecular Biology and Evolution 15, 626–637.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ohata, M. and Wada, K. (2005) Do earthen structures more often deter barricade building species than non-building species in crabs of the family Dotillidae (Brachyura, Ocypodoidea)? Crustaceana 79, 285–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pröhl, H., Koshy, R.A., Mueller, U., Rand, A.S. and Ryan, M.J. (2006) Geographic variation of genetic and behavioral traits in northern and southern Túngara frog. Evolution 60, 1669–1679.Google Scholar
Salmon, M. and Atsaides, S.P. (1968) Behavioral, morphological and ecological evidence for two new species of fiddler crabs (genus Uca) from the Gulf coast of the United States. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 81, 275–290.Google Scholar
Takayama, J. (1996) Population structure of Ilyoplax pusillus (Crustacea: Ocypodidae) in the Kurae River Estuary, Amakusa, western Japan. Benthos Research 50, 19–28.Google Scholar
Wada, K. (1984) Barricade building in Ilyoplax pusillus (De Haan) (Crustacea: Brachyura). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 83, 73–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wada, K. (1994) Earthen structures built by Ilyoplax dentimerosa (Crustacea: Brachyura: Ocypodidae). Ethology 96, 270–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wada, K., Kosuge, T. and Trong, D.P. (1998) Barricade building and neighbor burrow-plugging in Ilyoplax ningpoensis (Brachyura, Ocypodidae). Crustaceana 71, 663–671.Google Scholar
Wiltenmuth, E. and Nishikawa, K.C. (1998) Geographic variation in agonistic behaviour in a ring species of salamander, Ensatina eschscholtzii. Animal Behaviour 55, 1595–1606.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yoshimura, S. and Wada, K. (1992) Seasonality of reproductive activity in Ilyoplax pusilla (Brachyura: Ocypodidae). Researches on Crustacea 21, 125–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar