Are blue land crabs (Cardisoma guanhumi) attracted to falling fruit?

Abstract

Many species rely on multiple modalities to acquire information about predation risk, potential mates, and food. We studied the sensory modalities of blue land crabs, Cardisoma guanhumi, used for food detection. We isolated the acoustic and seismic cues of falling fruit and measured latency to emerge from their burrows after hearing the sound of falling fruits, seismic signals associated with fruit drop, and a combination of both modalities. In contrast to a previous study, we found no support that either substrate-born vibration or sound-enhanced emergence time. In fact, the actual fruit drop caused slower emergence times at one site. This crab lives in a seismically variable environment and perhaps such species are likely to rely more on other modalities to identify food.