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SHELL SELECTION BY THE HERMIT CRAB, PAGURUS HARTAE (MCLAUGHLIN & JENSEN, 1996) (DECAPODA, ANOMURA) BY MEI SATO 1,3 ) and GREGORY C. JENSEN 2,4 ) 1 ) Tokyo University of Fisheries, Department of Aquatic Biosciences, Konan 4-5-7, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8477, Japan 2 ) School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Box 355020, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, U.S.A. INTRODUCTION Most species of hermit crabs rely on gastropod shells to protect their uncalcified abdomens, and these mobile shelters help guard against predation, desiccation, and physical stresses (Hazlett, 1981). Shells are so essential that their availability has been considered a limiting factor for populations (Vance, 1972; Spight, 1977). The types of gastropod shells available also determine the size of hermit crabs present in an area (Markham, 1968). In shell-limited environments crabs are often forced to occupy inadequate shells, which in turn restricts not only their growth and fecundity but also increases their risk of predation (Sripathi et al., 1977). There is considerable evidence that hermit crabs do not enter gastropod shells at random, but select shells according to shell species and their associated characteristics of shape, epibionts, dimension, and weight (Grant & Ulmer, 1974). This differential shell preference may lead to
Crustaceana – Brill
Published: Jan 1, 2005
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