Effects of feeding on metabolic rate of the crab Chasmagnathus granulata (Decapoda, Brachyura)

CERVINO, C.O.; MEDESANI, D.A.; RODRÍGUEZ, E.M.

NAUPLIUS

Sociedade Brasileira de Carcinología

Año: 1995 vol. 3 p. 155 - 162

0104-6497

Metabolic rates of adult males of the intertidal crab Chasmagnathus granulata (Dana, 1851) were determined in relation to feeding. A feeding frequency of 3-4 days were suitable to maintain a constant energy metabolism for at least two months. Commercially available pellets of rabbit food have proven to be a suitable energy source for crabs. During starvation, a lower (51% less than fed crabs), but constant metabolic rate should be maintained by crabs at least during a seven week period. On the other hand, a SDA of a single meal was estimated as 78% over the meabolic rate of 2-wk starved crabs. These crabas showed a peak metabolic rate between 6 and 40 h after the meal, metabolic rate fell to a resting level about 64 h later.