Neohelice granulata burrow fidelity behaviour related to landscape heterogeneity

RIBEIRO, P.D.; NUÑEZ, J.D.; OCAMPO, E.H.; LUPPI, T.A.

HELGOLAND MARINE RESEARCH

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2018 vol. 72 p. 1 - 10

1438-387X

Neohelice granulata provides an interesting animal model for studying behavioural process because it is widely distributed,ensuring variability related to different environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to analyse variationin site fidelity with relation to landscape heterogeneity. Field observations were carried out in three geographicallydistant marshes in Argentina (Mar Chiquita, San Antonio Oeste, and Riacho San José), which differ in their environmentalcharacteristics and where crabs display different reproductive strategies. We analysed potential variation inburrow fidelity with relation to body size, sex and presence of vegetation (mudflat and saltmarsh) at all study sites. Inaddition, we analysed the influence of tidal flooding on fidelity in the Mar Chiquita saltmarsh. To achieve these goals,we used a mark?recapture method in which we tagged approximately 100 crabs during mid-summer for each zoneat each site (a total of 668 crabs) for geographical comparison and approximately 370 crabs to evaluate the influenceof tidal flooding. We found more faithful individuals in Mar Chiquita than in San Antonio Oeste and Riacho San José.For the San Antonio Oeste and Riacho San José populations and for Mar Chiquita previous to flooding samples wealso found differences in site fidelity related to crab body size. At San Antonio Oeste and Riacho San José the relationshipbetween size and proportion of faithful crabs was negative (smaller crabs were more faithful than larger crabs).In Mar Chiquita, a higher proportion of fidelity previous to flooding and a size-dependent response to flooding weredetected, suggesting that fidelity may be modulated by tides having different effects on crabs with different bodysizes. Equal proportions of males and females displaying site fidelity were observed at all study zones and sites. Ourstudy suggests that N. granulata burrow fidelity behaviour changes with latitude and landscape (mudflat or saltmarsh)and can be sensitive to variables such as body size and frequency of flooding.