Abstract
In southern Atlantic studies on hermit crab biology are scanty considering the local biodiversity. In this way, some population features of Paguristes calliopsis Forest and Saint Laurent, 1968 such as size frequency distribution, sex ratio and shell occupation in the natural environment were studied. Specimens were collected by means of scuba methods in the infralittoral area of the Anchieta Island. A total of 116 individuals were analyzed. Size measurements (minimum; maximum; mean shield length +/- sd, respectively) were 0.8; 4.5; 2.76 +/- 0.79 mm for males and 2.28 +/- 0.36 mm for females. The sex ratio was 1.47:1 in favor of males which prevailed in the largest size classes. The hermit crabs occupied shells from eleven gastropod species and Cerithium atratum (Born 1778) was significantly the most occupied one (75.86%). Significant correlations were not obtained in all regression analysis, demonstrating sexual differences on fitting of the occupied shells. In the studied area P. calliopsis population is small if compared with the other hermit crab populations. The shell utilization varies as a function of shell availability and hermit crabs interspecific competition, in relation to the other coexistent species.
Highlights
Hermit crabs represent a very important macrozoobenthic group within the intertidal and sublittoral communities
Despite the low occurrence of P. calliopsis, the efficiency of this sampling method revealed that the biodiversity of hermit crab species on Anchieta Island is considerably high
More than 40% of the 21 species, which have recorded for the São Paulo State coast, have been caught in this area (Mantelatto and Garcia 2002)
Summary
Hermit crabs represent a very important macrozoobenthic group within the intertidal and sublittoral communities. They have an important role in the marine trophic chain (Fransozo et al 1998). This group represents promising study because the establishment of these animals in such habitats derives from the evolution of adaptive population strategies (Mantelatto and Sousa 2000). Hermit crabs have been included in numerous reports of decapods from Central and South America. Despite the reports about Brazilian shore populations of some hermit species (see Mantelatto and Sousa 2000 for review) they represent promising material for study on compara-
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