Abstract
Leg autotomy and regeneration can have severe impacts on survival and reproduction, and these impacts may be even more pronounced in animals with multifarious legs, such as decapods. Thus, determining the patterns and frequency of autotomy and regeneration could reveal the effects of these processes on the individual and population level. We investigated whether some legs are lost more often than others and if all legs are equally likely to be regenerated. We sampled nearly 500 purple shore crabs (Hemigrapsus nudus) and showed that (1) most animals are found with at least one injured leg, (2) the patterns of autotomy differ between males and females, and (3) successful claw regeneration is unlikely in both males and females. Future work with H. nudus and other grapsid crabs will elucidate how patterns seen here relate to other developmental and ecological factors.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 135-146 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2014 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Grapsidae
- Hemigrapsus nudus
- autotomy
- chelipeds
- claws
- crab
- fitness
- regeneration
- walking legs
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oceanography
- Physiology
- Aquatic Science