Effect of acanthocephalan parasites on hiding behaviour in two species of shore crabs.

Abstract

The effect of acanthocephalan parasites (Profilicollis spp.) on the hiding behaviour during low tide of two species of shore crabs (intermediate hosts), Macrophthalmus hirtipes (Brachyura: Ocypodidae) and Hemigrapsus crenulatus (Brachyura: Grapsidae), was examined at Blueskin Bay, South Island, New Zealand. Exposed M. hirtipes were found to have significantly higher infection levels than did hidden conspecifics. This pattern was not observed for H. crenulatus. Mean cystacanth numbers were found to be considerably higher in M. hirtipes than H. crenulatus. Crabs exposed at low tide are at a greater risk of predation by definitive shorebird hosts than are hidden conspecifics. Preferential manipulation of one intermediate host species over another could influence diversity within ecosystems.