Abstract
The vertical zonation patterns of intertidal organisms have been topics of interest to marine ecologists for many years, with interspecific food competition being implicated as a contributing factor to intertidal community organization. In this study, we used behavioral bioassays to examine the potential roles that interspecific aggression and food competition have on the structuring of intertidal hermit crab assemblages. We studied two ecologically similar, sympatric hermit crab species, Clibanarius digueti [1] and Paguristes perrieri [2], which occupy adjacent zones within the intertidal region of the Gulf of California. During the search phase of foraging, C. digueti showed higher frequencies of aggressive behaviors than P. perrieri. In competition assays, C. digueti gained increased access to food resources compared to P. perrieri. The results suggest that food competition may play an important role in structuring intertidal hermit crab assemblages, and that the zonation patterns of Gulf of California hermit crab species may be the result of geographical displacement by the dominant food competitor (C. digueti).
Highlights
Hermit crabs are characteristic organisms found in most marine habitats across the globe [3], and their biology has been widely studied
Interspecific Competition in the Presence of Food During interspecific food competition, C. digueti fed for significantly more time than P. perrieri (W = 179.0, P = 0.0238; Table 4)
The results of this study support the hypotheses that intertidal hermit crab species occupying adjacent zones in the intertidal zone differ in their rates of aggression and competitive abilities for food resources
Summary
Hermit crabs are characteristic organisms found in most marine habitats across the globe [3], and their biology has been widely studied. Intertidal hermit crab assemblages offer a unique study system to test hypotheses on the ecological effects of interspecific competition because (1) multiple ecologically similar species often live in close sympatry [3], and (2) sympatric species often show stereotypical patterns of vertical (depth) zonation [4] with species segregating into distinct bands within the intertidal zone [5]. The causes of these zonation patterns in hermit crabs are largely unknown, but like other intertidal organisms [6,7] are believed to be the result of a complex interplay among abiotic (e.g., desiccation risk, aerial exposure) and biotic (e.g., competition) pressures [8]. The potential importance of interspecific food competition on the structure of hermit crab assemblages has been largely overlooked aside from a few pioneering studies [14,15,16]
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