Abstract
We examined sand crabs (Lepidopa benedicti) for endoparasites, and found the only parasite consistently infecting the studied population were small nematodes. Because many nematodes have complex life cycles involving multiple hosts, often strongly manipulating their hosts, we hypothesized that nematodes alter the behavior of their sand crab hosts. We predicted that more heavily infected crabs would spend more time above sand than less heavily infected crabs. Our data indicate infection by nematodes was not correlated with duration of time crabs spent above sand. We also suggest that organisms living in sandy beaches may benefit from relatively low parasite loads due to the low diversity of species in the habitat.
Highlights
Sandy beaches of oceans are a physically demanding habitat (Faulkes 2013), typically with low species diversity
Rhizocephalans (Boschma 1937), trematode metacercariae (Anantaraman and Subramoniam 1976), and bopyrid isopods (Markham and Boyko 1999) infect albuneid sand crabs, none of these have been recorded on Lepidopa, the subject of this article
Nematode parasites occur in sand crabs, B. occidentalis (Lafferty 1993, 1999), mole crabs, E. analoga (Lafferty 1999; Smith 2007), and other decapod crustaceans (e.g., Moravec et al 2003)
Summary
Sandy beaches of oceans are a physically demanding habitat (Faulkes 2013), typically with low species diversity. Sand crabs (Decapoda, Albuneidae) are among the animals that are successful in this environment. They are specialized, obligate diggers (Faulkes and Paul 1997a, 1997b, 1998; Dugan et al 2000) found on sandy beaches around the world (Boyko 2002). Because of concealment by sand and the scarcity of some species (Boyko 2002), the basic biology of albuneid sand crabs is poorly understood. As with most matters concerning sand crabs’ biology, few albuneid sand crab species have been examined for parasites, but clearly at least some do have parasites. Rhizocephalans (Boschma 1937), trematode metacercariae (Anantaraman and Subramoniam 1976), and bopyrid isopods (Markham and Boyko 1999) infect albuneid sand crabs, none of these have been recorded on Lepidopa, the subject of this article
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