The high level classification of the Chirostyloidea Ortmann, 1892, is reviewed. Eumunididae Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1900, is resurrected for two genera formerly placed in the Chirostylidae Ortmann, 1892, Eumunida Smith, 1883, and Pseudomunida Haig, 1979, based on shared characteristics such as the dorsal carapace striation, presence of supraocular spines of the rostrum, dentition of the mandib...

The systematics of the hermit crab genus Pagurus is complex, with a long history of taxonomic rearrangements. This group, with worldwide distribution, encompasses a large number of morphologically heterogeneous species. A total of 173 currently recognized species have been morphologically organized into 11 informal groups, in attempts to establish internal stability. This arrangement and the re...

Fiddler crabs (Uca spp.) are common inhabitants of temperate and tropical coastal communities throughout the world, often occupying specific microenvironments within mangrove and salt marsh habitats. As second intermediate hosts for trematodes, we investigated patterns of host distribution and parasitism for 3 species of sympatric fiddler crabs in mangrove habitats adjacent to the Indian River ...

The relationship between crab size and shell size selected, in a free-choice situation, was tested for crabs maintained under several conditions . Individuals of Calcinus tibicen that were held and presented with an excess of shells for 7 days prior to testing selected smaller shells than control crabs (either those maintained for 7 days with no excess shells available or those experiencing nat...

Most hermit crabs have a specialized lifestyle that requires them to occupy gastropod shells. The size of shells that hermit crabs inhabit relative to their body size affects their growth, survival and fecundity. In this study, the effects of shell fit on individual growth rate, risk of predation, feeding rate, and activity level were examined in the laboratory for hermit crabs Pagurus longicar...

The diagnosis of the recently described hermit crab genus Catapaguropsis Lemaitre & McLaughlin, 2006 is emended to accommodate a second distinctive new species, Catapaguropsis brucei n. sp., which does not exhibit the sexual dimorphism described for the type species, C. queenslandica Lemaitre & McLaughlin, 2006. Catapaguropsis brucei n. sp. is characterized by the marked reduction, in both sexe...

Repeated activities used by animals during contests are assumed to act as signals advertising the quality of the sender. However, their exact functions are not well understood and observations fit only a limited set of the predictions made by models of signaling systems. Experimental studies of contest behavior tend to focus on analysis of the rate of signaling, but individual performances may ...