IIMYC   23581
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES MARINAS Y COSTERAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Tacticas de apareamiento en el cangrejo violinista Uca uruguayensis
Autor/es:
PABLO D. RIBEIRO
Lugar:
Mar del Plata
Reunión:
Congreso; COMPORTA 2013 - 1er Congreso Argentino de Biología del Comportamiento; 2013
Institución organizadora:
Grupo de Investigación y Educación en Temas Ambientales (GrIETA)
Resumen:
Fiddler crabs of the species Uca uruguayensis use two different mating tactics. In one tactic females search and crabs mate underground in males burrows. In the other tactic males search and crabs mate on the surface near females’ burrows. I studied the relationship between crab density, body size, and the occurrence of both mating tactics. At low densities crabs mated mostly on the surface, while at high densities crabs mated mostly underground. Whether crabs mated underground or on the surface was correlated with the occurrence of searching females but not with courtship activity of males. Males mating underground were bigger than those mating on the surface, suggesting active female choice. Given that fiddler crabs experience multiple reproductive cycles they are prone to show behavioral plasticity in their mating strategy, whenever payoffs by using different mating tactics differ between reproductive events. Therefore, the incorporation of different levels of environmental variability may be important in theoretical models for the understanding of the evolution of alternative mating tactics and strategies.