The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relative growth and heterochely in the hermit crab Petrochirus diogenes. Hermit crabs were collected in the Ubatuba region, SP, from 1993 to 1996; using a commercial fishing boat equipped with two double-rig nets. Body mass of each individual was weighed and their cephalothoracic shield and chelar propodus size were measured. Body mass and chelar ...

AT THE REQUEST of Dr. Ernst S. Reese of the Universi ty of Hawaii the wri ter has studied seven specimens of a polyclad turbellarian found in the shells of Trocbus sand taicbensis occupied by the hermit crab Calcines latens in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands. Accord ing to Dr. Reese ( in litt. ) the worm wraps itself around the abdomen of the crab and usually occurs deep in the spira l cavi...

Six species of squat lobsters from a cold seep field in the northeastern South China Sea are studied. Two new species, Uroptychus jiaolongae n. sp. and U. spinulosus n. sp., are described, and their distinctions from the related species are detailed. Two species, Munidopsis tuberosa Osawa, Lin & Chan, 2008 and M. verrilli Benedict, 1902, are herein reported for the first time from a cold seep/h...

Although recognition behavior is central to many aspects of an organism’s biology, it has been difficult to effectively identify the individual recognition components (i.e., production, perception, and action) for most organisms. Among hermit crabs, a relatively well-studied system for recognition behavior, the precise shell cues that stimulate crabs to explore and choose empty shells are uncle...

A fifth species of the pagurid genus Cestopagurus Bouvier, 1897, is described and illustrated on the basis of a single male specimen collected at a depth of 499 m from Hinepuia submarine volcano in the Kermadec Arc, New Zealand. The new species, C. hinepuia, appears similar to C. puniceus Komai & Takeda, 2005 known from waters off Japan, but the different armature of chelipeds distinguishes the...

Salinity is the primary driver of osmoregulatory evolution in decapods, and may have influenced their diversification into different osmotic niches. In semi-terrestrial crabs, hyper-osmoregulatory ability favors sojourns into burrows and dilute media, and provides a safeguard against hemolymph dilution; hypo-osmoregulatory ability underlies emersion capability and a life more removed from water...