Using crab-like dummies, we have shown previously that fiddler crabs [Uca vomeris (McNeill)] defend their burrows against intruders in a burrow-centred frame of reference. The crabs respond whenever an intruder approaches to within a certain distance of the burrow entrance, and this distance is independent of the approach direction. We show here that the crabs combine information from the path ...

To examine the distribution of neurogenesis in the central olfactory pathway of adult decapod crustaceans, we labeled, in vivo, six species of decapod crustaceans representing most infraorders (shrimps, spiny lobsters, clawed lobsters, crayfish, hermit crabs, true crabs) with the proliferation marker 5-bromo-2’-deoxyuridine (BrdU). In all tested species a group of small, neuron-like nuclei in t...

Adaptations to a terrestrial lifestyle occurred convergently multiple times during the evolution of the arthropods. This holds also true for the "true crabs" (Brachyura), a taxon that includes several lineages that invaded land independently. During an evolutionary transition from sea to land, animals have to develop a variety of physiological and anatomical adaptations to a terrestrial life st...

A strong cohort of young European green crabs (Carcinus maenas) appeared in North American embayments from Oregon to the west coast of Vancouver Island following the strong El Niño of 1997/1998. Unusually, strong north-moving coastal currents transported crab larvae from established source populations in California to the Pacific Northwest. Since then, both coastal transport and recruitment of ...

Hermit crabs hide into shells when confronted with potential dangers, including images presented on a monitor. We do not know, however, what hermit crabs can see and how they perceive different objects. We examined the hiding response of the Caribbean hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus) to various stimuli presented on a monitor in seven experiments to explore whether crabs could discriminate diff...

Individual variation in habitat use has important ecological and evolutionary consequences. Here, we combine developmental and functional approaches to study habitat use in Pugettia producta, a marine crab that sequesters pigments from the algae it inhabits and consumes to camouflage with different colored algal habitats. Pugettia from different habitats differ in size and color; individuals li...

Shallow coves in Chesapeake Bay have abundant food and serve as nursery grounds for juvenile blue crabs. In this study, we examined the relationships between the diet of very small (4-40 mm CW) juvenile blue crabs and the benthic infauna in shallow, unvegetated nursery coves. We compared infauna in benthic samples with gut contents of juvenile blue crabs from six shallow coves in each of two su...

The effects of experience on prey and prey-patch choice were compared between two species of marine predatory crabs. The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, is highly mobile and forages in a variety of estuarine and lagoonal habitats. The Atlantic mud crab, Panopeus herbstii H. Milne-Edwards, is smaller and less mobile and is found mostly in oyster reefs and on shelly bottoms. In the labora...