INVESTIGADORES
KITTLEIN Marcelo Javier
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Feeding of the intertidal crab Neohelice (=Chasmagnathus) granulata : The influence of diurnal phase, habitat, season and tidal regime
Autor/es:
LANCIA, J.; BAS, C. C.; LUPPI. T. A.; MENDEZ CASARIEGO, A.; KITTLEIN, MARCELO J.; SPIVAK, EDUARDO D.
Lugar:
Mar del Plata
Reunión:
Conferencia; Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation Congress; 2012
Institución organizadora:
Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation
Resumen:
Neohelice granulata (Brachyura, Varunidae) is a semi-terrestrial
burrowing crab inhabiting intertidal areas in the South-Western Atlantic
coast. It occupies different habitats, from bare low intertidal
mudflats to high intertidal saltmarshes, and from fine, organic matter
rich sediment, to very coarse sediment with low content of organic
matter. The feeding activity and food items consumed by crabs from
different habitats were studied in three sites with diverse sets of
physical and biological conditions. The relationship among feeding
activity, food items consumed, tidal, daily and seasonal cycles and
physical characteristics of each site and intertidal zone were
evaluated. Feeding activity of adult N. granulata varied according to
the spatial and/or temporal changes in some natural cycles and was
modulated by a complex interaction of factors. In general, males and non
ovigerous females fed after darkness and during submersion periods but
also after emersion periods if sediment and burrows remained wet.
Ovigerous females almost never fed. This species has a dual mode of
feeding: predominantly herbivory (live plants or plant litter in salt
marshes) or deposit feeder (superficial sediment and detritus in
mudflats). The quantity and quality of ingested food varied among sites
and a trend to omnivory (including algae and conspecifics in the diet)
related with the low quality of resources was detected.