Chapter 4. Trophic ecology

COLLINS, P. A.

AEGLIDAE: LIFE HISTORY AND CONSERVATION STATUS OF UNIQUE FRESHWATER ANOMURAN DECAPODS.

CRC/Taylor & Francis Group Publishing. Crustacean Issues series

Lugar: Boca Raton ; Año: 2019; p. 97 - 131

Aeglidae is the unique family of Anomura in continental aquatic environments and it occurs in the southern South American. The species present a temporally and spatially distinctive evolutionary history with respect to the conquest of freshwater environments. There are currently many endemic species, indicating the strong relationships between the geo-climatic history of the continent and their hydrology. The species ability to adapt to the environment salinity and its fluctuations is, thus, an adaptive process that is achieved through different behavioral and/or physiological mechanisms, among which osmoregulation, growth and reproduction are important. The trophic activity must accompany the needs that demand these activities to reach effective populations. The trophic aspects of some species are known, mainly through studies of the foregut content and trophic offer analysis in the natural environment. Other studies have been able to deepen the knowledge of trophic relationships through some ecological, physiological, and behavioral aspects using laboratory and field experiments. The aeglids are generalist, omnivorous and opportunistic species with some difference and nuances among them due mainly to the geographic places where the populations are. Moreover, the aeglids can be considered shredders, active predators, and scavengers or as grazers, scrapers, and collectors.