Abstract
The present work identifies the decapod crustaceans that associate with Anemonia sulcata on the southwestern Atlantic coast of Portugal and characterises their host use pattern. It determines whether the anemone is monopolised by any species, resulting in the exclusion of conspecifics or other decapods and, under laboratory conditions, it evaluates the degree of association between each species and A. sulcata. From all sampled anemones, 79% harboured at least 1 decapod crustacean, with the majority displaying either one or two specimens (32 and 24%, respectively). The most abundant species were the shrimp Periclimenes sagittifer and the crab Inachus phalangium (representing 36 and 31% of collected specimens, respectively), which displayed lasting associations and were commonly recorded among the tentacles of the host. The species Eualus occultus, E. complex cranchii, Clibanarius erythropus, Maja brachydactyla, Pilumnus hirtellus and Polybius (Necora) puber displayed short-term associations, were mainly present on the substratum near the base, and avoided the tentacles of A. sulcata. Periclimenes sagittifer and I. phalangium were only recorded alone or in heterosexual pairs, appearing to efficiently defend their host against conspecifics. The majority of recorded species only seem to temporarily associate with A. sulcata, in order to seek protection from predators when other shelters are unavailable.
Highlights
The symbiotic life style is one of the greatest environmental adaptations of marine crustaceans (Ross, 1983)
Decapod crustaceans associated with Anemonia sulcata were collected with the help of hand nets and transparent plastic bottles in July 2005 in 100 similar-sized individual anemones, with the number and specific position of each specimen on the anemone being recorded
Individuals of decapod species recorded in association with A. sulcata and individual anemones were stored in 10 glass aquaria (54 l) connected in parallel to a recirculation system composed of a 270 l sump equipped with a wet-dry filter with bioballs, a protein skimmer and one 55 W ultra-violet steriliser
Summary
The symbiotic life style is one of the greatest environmental adaptations of marine crustaceans (Ross, 1983). Most symbiotic decapods inhabit their host as solitary individuals or as a mated pair (Knowlton, 1980; Haines et al, 1994; Omori et al, 1994; Palmer, 1995), there are records of the occurrence of aggregations of individuals in a single host Associations between sea anemones and decapods are not unusual and have already been reported from tropical and temperate areas in intertidal and subtidal regimes (Wirtz, 1997; Jonsson et al, 2001; Thiel and Baeza, 2001; Khan et al, 2004). Decapods associating with sea anemones may seek protection, food, a reproductive mate or all of these features (Wirtz and Diesel, 1983; Fautin et al, 1995; Baeza and Thiel, 2003; Valdivia and Stotz, 2006)
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