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1.
Vertical and horizontal distributions are described for megalopae of 11 brachyuran taxa common to the lower Chesapeake Bay and adjacent shelf. Three distribution patterns are apparent from horizontal distribution.
1. (1) More than 75% of the megalopae of estuarine adults, such as Hexapanopeus angustifrons, Neopanope sayi, Panopeus herbstii, Rhithropanopeus harrisii and Pinnotheres ostreum, are retained in estuarine waters.
2. (2) The megalopae of three estuarine taxa, Callinectes sapidus, Uca spp. and Pinnixa sp., are most abundant on the shelf.
3. (3) More than 90% of the megalopae of the shelf species, Portunus sp., Cancer irroratus and Libinia spp. remained in shelf waters.
Vertical distributions indicate the megalopae of a majority of estuarine crabs are epibenthic when waters are stratified. Exceptions include the megalopae of both Rhithropanopeus which are found slightly shallower in well mixed waters and Callinectes sapidus which are generally most abundant in the neuston. The megalopae of two shelf species, Portunus sp. and Cancer irroratus, reach highest densities in surface waters, while those of Libinia spp. are common in the epibenthos.Megalopal distributions analyzed with respect to water column stratification show megalopae never reached highest densities within the layer of the pycnocline. The megalopae of five species show significant shifts in vertical distributions between stratified and homogeneous water columns.  相似文献   

2.
The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey has sampled plankton on 14 routes off the coasts of the northeast United States and Canada between 1959 and 2000. Six of these routes are still operating and are sampled on a monthly basis. Some 2047 CPR tows have been made to the end of 2000 and the resulting database represents the most extensive time series of marine plankton available anywhere in the northwest Atlantic. The location and time span of coverage of each route is presented. In addition selected information is presented on:
1. zooplankton abundance as departures from baselines for the northeast US continental shelf;
2. interannual variation in seasonality of Gulf of Maine phytoplankton;
3. zooplankton relationships to local hydrography of the Gulf of Maine and to the North Atlantic Oscillation;
4. time-space matrices of zooplankton abundance and anomalies southeast of New York City;
5. time series of phyto- and zooplankton on the Scotian Shelf;
6. seasonal cycles of Phytoplankton Colour and of zooplankton on the Scotian Shelf and Georges Bank, and in the Gulf of Maine; and
7. monthly abundance of zooplankton in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.
  相似文献   

3.
Indirect interactions are among the many important factors that influence the community structure of the rocky intertidal zone. Trait‐mediated indirect interactions, in which the presence of a predator or competitor can influence the relationship between two other species, have emerged as vital for understanding community dynamics. This study examined the effect of different crab species on the feeding habits of an intertidal snail, Nucella lapillus. Crab species were defined as being sympatric predatory (Carcinus maenas and Cancer irroratus), sympatric non‐predatory (Uca pugnax and Pagurus longicarpus), or allopatric predatory (Mithrax sculptus and Percnon gibbesi). Nucella lapillus were potentially exposed to risk cues from each of the crab species. Crabs were kept in perforated boxes, which allowed any chemical cues to be emitted but prevented direct contact. Nucella lapillus had significantly lower feeding rates in the presence of sympatric predatory crab species than N. lapillus exposed to either sympatric non‐predatory crabs or allopatric predatory crabs. There was no difference in feeding rate between N. lapillus exposed to the sympatric non‐predatory crabs and to the allopatric predatory crabs. Nucella lapillus in the presence of sympatric predatory crabs had a feeding rate of only 0.07 barnacles per snail per day, whereas N. lapillus housed with non‐predatory crabs and allopatric predatory crabs had rates of 0.11 and 0.12, respectively, suggesting that N. lapillus alter their behavior in response to chemical risk cues from local predators. These results suggest that the ability to detect and respond to risk cues is a selectively evolved trait.  相似文献   

4.
The freshwater discharge from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Hudson Bay accounts for more than 80% of the total freshwater discharge from eastern Canada and approximately 70% of the total discharge from the eastern seaboard of North America, from Baffin Island to Florida. If the Gulf of Mexico is included, the Gulf of St. Lawrence/Hudson Bay discharge is still more than half of the total.Both the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Hudson Bay have some distinctly estuarine characteristics and discharges of metals can be estimated using estuarine models. For Al, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn, the distributions can be described by simple, highly significant relationships with salinity. These regressions can be used in conjunction with knowledge of water discharges to estimate net metal inputs to the North Atlantic from these two systems.Most of the discharge from the Gulf of St. Lawrence flows along the Scotian Shelf to the Gulf of Maine. Metal-salinity relationships can also be used to estimate metal transports through this region for some metals. The applicability of this estuarine model, however, tends to break down as the oceanography becomes more complex and metal distributions are determined more by oceanic rather than estuarine processes.  相似文献   

5.
Oceanography, Units 1–16 edited by J. Stewart (Open University Press, 1977), 755 pp.

The Thermohaline Fine Structure of the Ocean by K. N. Fedorov (New York: Pergamon Press, Pergamon Marine Series. Volume 2, 1978). Translated from Russian by D. A. Brown, Technical Editor: J. S. Turner, 170 pp., no price listed.

The Ocean Basins and Margins edited by Alan E. M. Nairn and Francis G. Stehli, with William H. Kanes (New York: Plenum Press, Vol. 1–4A, 4B, 1973, 1979, 1975, 1977, and 1978) approx. 3,000 pp.

Recent Crustal Movements, 1977 edited by C.A. Whitten, R. Green, and B.K. Meade (New York: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., 1979), 663 pp., hardcover, $78.00.

The Alaskan Shelf‐Hydrographic, Sedimentary, and Geotechnical Environment by Ghanshyam Datt Sharma (New York: Springer Verlag, 1979), 498 pp., hardcover, $29.80.  相似文献   

6.
Sediments in the Hudson Estuary contain zinc, copper and lead from metal pollutants discharged to the harbor in the New York City area, from dispersed sources of contamination introduced upstream, and from natural weathering processes. The magnitude of the contribution from each of these three sources to particular sites can be estimated on the basis of total metal abundances, relative proportions of several metals, and other sediment properties. The pattern of recent heavy-metal contamination in Hudson sediments closely follows the distribution in sediments of 137Cs which was derived over the past two decades from global fallout and local releases from a commercial nuclear reactor. Several simple empirical corrections related to grain size and mineralogy variations are suggested for comparing heavy-metal contamination levels of sandy continental shelf sediments with fine-grained estuarine and coastal sediments. Iron has little variation in Hudson sediments while manganese is greater in surface sediment of some low-salinity and fresh-water areas than deeper in the sediments, and generally less in the high-salinity area of rapid sediment deposition in New York harbor. Much of the pollutant Cu added to the harbor appears to be rapidly deposited in the sediments.  相似文献   

7.
Metal distributions in the exoskeleton and soft tissues of the fiddler crab, Uca pugnax, were examined during intermolt and immediate postmolt to determine if distribution of the metals changed prior to molting and to determine if molting is a feasible mechanism to depurate metals. Fiddler crabs were collected from two locations in New Jersey, a highly contaminated site and a relatively clean environment. The crabs from the contaminated site had higher concentrations of metals in their soft tissues for Cu, significantly higher concentrations of Pb in their soft tissues and carapace, but did not have any significant differences in concentrations of Zn in comparison to their conspecifics from the relatively clean site during intermolt. Crabs from the contaminated site has significantly higher levels of Cu, Pb, and Zn in both their soft tissues and exuvia immediately after molting. Crabs from both sites shifted copper and zinc from the carapace into the soft tissues prior to molting. Lead distribution shifted from the soft tissues to the exoskeleton prior to molting in the population from the contaminated site but shifted from the exoskeleton into the soft tissues for the relatively clean site. Average percent of the total body burden eliminated during the molting process for the highly contaminated site varied with each metal, 12% Cu, 76% Pb, and 22% Zn. Average percent of the total body burden eliminated during molting process for the relatively clean site also varied with each metal and was significantly lower than the conspecifics from the contaminated site, 3% Cu, 56% Pb, and 8% Zn. Molting can reduce overall body burdens significantly and is a feasible mechanism to depurate lead.  相似文献   

8.
《Marine Geology》2001,172(1-2):117-145
We propose that late Wisconsin deposition and erosion (Hudson Shelf and Block Island valleys) on the shelf and slope from New Jersey to southern New England were a consequence of the catastrophic drainage of glacial lakes behind terminal moraine systems and the huge volume of water stored beneath the Laurentian ice sheet and subsequent erosion of the lake sediments by flash floods. The morphology imparted by glaciation regulated the discharge associated with the ablation of the glaciers. Associated with the deposits west of Hudson Shelf Valley are the remains of mammoth and mastodon which were transported from their living habitats along the lake shores to their present burial sites on the shelf. The floods also triggered gravity flows on the upper continental slope which made possible the transportation of coarse debris over hundreds of km into the deep-sea. That these catastrophic flood morphologies can still be recognized on the middle to outer shelf suggest that much of its surface was little modified during the late Pleistocene/Holocene transgression. Thus the late Pleistocene/Holocene transgression may have been characterized by short periods when sea level rose rapidly allowing for the preservation of relict features.  相似文献   

9.
1Introduction Heterotrophicmicrobesarenowconsideredtobe significantcomponentsofthestructureandfunctionof marinepelagicecosystems.Heterotrophicbacteriacon- stituteamajorpoolofbiomassinopenecosystem (WilhelmandSuttle,1999).Theyconsumealargepor- tionofprimaryproduction(Li,1998;Sherryetal., 2002;Lietal.,2004),andtheymineralizemostofthe dissolvedorganiccarbonthattheyconsume(Azamet al.,1983;Richetal.,1997;Azam,1998).Therolesof planktonicprotists,suchasheterotrophicflagellates andciliates,inmicro…  相似文献   

10.
The mean seasonal cycle and distribution of various life history stages of C. finmarchicus throughout the Georges Bank (GB)-Gulf of Maine (GOM) region were characterized based on 5966 MARMAP zooplankton samples collected during 106 surveys over a 10-year period (autumn 1977–autumn 1987). A high degree of seasonal and spatial variability in C. finmarchicus abundance throughout the region was evident in contoured portrayals of data, grouped into standard stations and 2-month “seasons”.Eight subareas of the Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank region were identified through cluster analysis of standard stations having similar seasonal patterns in mean abundance of C. finmarchicus stages C3, C4, C5 and adults. These were the northern Gulf of Maine (Northern GOM); southern Gulf of Maine (Southern GOM); Scotian Shelf-coastal Gulf of Maine (Scotian-Coastal GOM); Mass Bay; tidally mixed Georges Bank (Mixed GB); tidal front on the Bank separating mixed from seasonally stratified water (Tidal Front GB); seasonally stratified water on the Bank (Stratified GB) and the Continental Slope adjacent to Georges Bank (SLOPE).A distinct seasonal abundance cycle was present in all subareas, but, the magnitude and timing of annual maxima varied greatly among subareas. Peak abundance was reached early (March–April) in Mixed GB, Tidal Front GB and Mass Bay, and late (July–August) in Northern GOM and Scotian-Coastal GOM. Remaining subareas had maxima in May–June. Abundance increased 10-fold from January–February to March–April and decreased sharply from July–August to September–October in all areas except southern GOM and northern GOM. The amplitude of the annual cycle was weakest in northern GOM and southern GOM, where high concentrations of C. finmarchicus persisted year-round, and strongest in the tidally mixed shallow water on GB, where the sparsest densities of C. finmarchicus occurred most of the year. Abundance curves for the various areas converged in March–April, when C. finmarchicus was ubiquitously very abundant (> 104/10 m2), and diverged from September to December.C. finmarchicus stage distribution in the GB-GOM area was highly negatively correlated with mean water column temperature during the stratified season. This seemed more related to the hydrography of the region, which isolates warmer well mixed Georges Bank from the Gulf of Maine and the stratified areas on the Bank, than to temperature, because Calanus abundances decline on the Bank before water temperatures exceed their preferences.A large part of the spatial and seasonal variation in C. finmarchicus abundance and age structure appears to be tightly coupled to major hydrographic regimes and to major circulation patterns in the region. There was a sharp ecotone between well-mixed Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine as defined by C. finmarchicus abundance patterns and life history distributions. The ecotone is present year-round but is most apparent during the stratified season (May–October), when thermohaline density gradients and the near-surface current jet along the northern flank are generally strongest. The Gulf of Maine had the highest abundances of C. finmarchicus, and lowest spatial and seasonal variation in the region, while tidally mixed Georges Banks displayed the opposite pattern. This indication of stable population centers in the Gulf of Maine would make it a major source of Calanus in the region, particularly during March–April. Distributional patterns also suggest a strong Calanus influence from Scotian Shelf water in northern Gulf of Maine and on the southern flank of Georges Bank.  相似文献   

11.
The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, is distributed along the east coast of the United States from Cape Cod, Mass., through the Gulf of Mexico, including both relatively unpolluted coastal areas and estuaries contaminated with trace metals. Cadmium is of particular concern because it is concentrated in the digestive glands of blue crabs and can be passed on to consumer organisms. Tissue concentrations and partitioning of trace metals from crabs exposed in the laboratory to 10 ppb dissolved cadmium for 40 days were compared with blue crabs collected from two locations on the Hudson River, NY, Foundry Cove and Haverstraw Bay, Foundry Cove and Haverstraw Bay, both of which have elevated trace metal levels relative to estuarine areas near Beaufort, NC. Crab digestive glands, gills and muscle were removed and analyzed for total cadmium, copper, zinc and nickel concentrations using acid digestion and atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and metal-binding (metallothionein-like) proteins were determined by gel-filtration chromatography. In crabs exposed to cadmium in the laboratory, the cytosolic partitioning was similar to previous investigations at our laboratory where higher levels of cadmium (100 ppb) and shorter exposure times (14 days) were used. The similarity in cadmium partitioning from these two separate experiments indicates dose independence. In crabs from polluted environments the digestive glands contained the highest concentrations of trace metals. Chromatograms of the cytosol from the digestive glands and gills from both field and laboratory exposed crabs showed similar distributions of cadmium, copper and zinc. The gills of both field and laboratory-exposed crabs had metal-binding proteins that contained mostly cadmium, and the digestive glands had metallothionein-like proteins that contained cadmium, copper and zinc. Estimated molecular weights for these proteins were similar to the metallothioneins found in other crustaceans and mammals.  相似文献   

12.
The tissue concentrations and contents of calcium, copper and zinc were determined at different stages in the moult cycle of the shore crab Carcinus maenas. The crabs were dissected into the following tissues: the midgut gland, the gill, the ‘rest tissue’ (the latter defined as the left over tissue, i.e. muscles and exoskeleton), and the haemolymph, and analysed as such. One group of crabs was maintained in clean seawater. In these crabs, calcium was lost from haemolymph during premoult and apparently stored in the midgut gland. At ecdysis approximately 90% of the whole body calcium content was lost with the exuviae while the haemolymph calcium content doubled. During early postmoult calcium stored in the midgut gland was used in combination with calcium absorbed from the surrounding seawater for a rapid calcification of the new exoskeleton. Both the copper and zinc concentrations declined in the ‘rest tissue’ compartment during premoult. At ecdysis the haemolymph copper and zinc contents increased 35 and 86%, respectively, from premoult to the newly moult stage. At the same time, however, the copper and zinc haemolymph concentrations decreased. During postmoult, copper (25%) and zinc (45%) were lost from haemolymph and mainly excreted but a minor fraction (5–10%) was stored in the midgut gland.A second group of crabs was maintained in copper-contaminated seawater (0.1 mgl−1) during ecdysis and postmoult. Following exposure of the animals to raised ambient levels of copper, the calcium and zinc contents of the midgut gland were reduced while the copper contents of the midgut gland and most other tissues were increased in comparison to crabs held in clean seawater.  相似文献   

13.
于2013年3-5月通过走航取样分别对巽他陆架和马六甲海峡表层海水浮游植物叶绿素a生物量和群落结构进行了观测和研究。结果表明:巽他陆架生物量较低,叶绿素a浓度平均值为(0.083±0.043)μg/L,爪哇海的SS4站位生物量最低,仅为0.014μg/L,浮游植物粒级组成上主要以Pico-级为优势,占80%以上;马六甲海峡自西北至东南存在明显的盐度梯度,在盐度最低的SM5站,叶绿素a生物量最高,达到1.080μg/L;马六甲海峡站位叶绿素a浓度平均值为(0.433±0.315)μg/L,同时浮游植物群落结构变动较大。在海峡西北的SM1-SM4站与巽他海峡类似,主要以聚球藻为优势类群,Pico-级浮游植物占60%~80%;在生物量最高的SM5站,同样以聚球藻为优势类群,而在海峡东南段的SM6和SM7站,虽然叶绿素a浓度相对于SM5略有降低,但仍明显高于其他马六甲海峡站位和巽他陆架站位,此两个站位硅藻比例明显升高,均可达20%以上。从优势类群生物量与环境因子和营养浓度的相关性可以看出,研究海区叶绿素a生物量与水体盐度呈现显著负相关(p0.050),说明陆源输入对研究海区生物量具有明显的影响。另外,硅藻生物量也与磷酸盐浓度(p0.050)和硅酸盐(p0.010)浓度均呈现显著正相关;聚球藻在浮游植物群落中的优势度会受到陆源营养盐输入的影响而降低,但仍然是整个研究区域最优势的浮游植物类群。  相似文献   

14.
An investigation of surface phytoplankton communities was undertaken on the shelf of the northern Benguela upwelling ecosystem during austral autumn (May) and spring (September), along latitudinal transects at 20° S and 23° S, from 2 to 70 nautical miles offshore, as well as on a zigzag grid located between these transects. Microscopic identification of the phytoplankton and CHEMTAX analysis of pigment biomarkers were used to characterise the community composition. During May 2014, warmer, more-saline water with a shallower upper mixed layer corresponding to periods of less-intense offshore Ekman transport was encountered on the shelf. Satellite imagery indicated high phytoplankton biomass extending for a considerable distance from the coast, and CHEMTAX indicated diatoms as dominant at most of the stations (52–92%), although dinoflagellates were dominant at some inshore localities (57–74%). Species of Chaetoceros, Bacteriastrum and Cylindrotheca were the most abundant, with abundance of the Pseudo-nitzschiaseriata-group’ being particularly high at a number of stations. In September 2014, more-intense wind-forcing resulted in a deeper upper mixed layer and stronger upwelling of colder, less-saline water. Elevated phytoplankton biomass was confined close to the coast, where diatoms accounted for most of the population (54–87%), whereas small flagellates, such as prasinophytes, haptophytes and cryptophytes, as well as the cyanobacterium Synechococcus, dominated the communities (58–90%) farther from the coast. It is hypothesised that stronger upwelling and deeper vertical mixing in September of that year were not conducive for widespread diatom growth, and that small flagellates populated the water column by being entrained from offshore onto the shelf in the upwelled water that moved in towards the coast.  相似文献   

15.
Populations of the copepod species Calanus finmarchicus often dominate the springtime biomass and secondary production of shelf ecosystems throughout the North Atlantic Ocean. Recently, it has been hypothesised that interannual to interdecadal fluctuations observed in such populations are driven primarily by climate-associated changes in ocean circulation. Here, we compare evidence from the North Sea and Gulf of Maine/Western Scotian Shelf (GoM/WSS) linking fluctuations in C. finmarchicus abundance to changes in ocean circulation associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). A particularly striking contrast emerges from this Trans-Atlantic comparison: whereas the North Sea C. finmarchicus population exhibits a negative correlation with the NAO index, the GoM/WSS population exhibits a more complex, positive association with the index. The physical processes underlying these contrasting population responses are discussed in the context of regional- to basin-scale circulation changes associated with the NAO.  相似文献   

16.
A number of pathological abnormalities previously unrecorded in New Zealand fishes are described. A silver trevally (Pseudocaranx dentex) captured from the Bay of Islands exhibited swim bladder ectasia. Black oreo (Allocyttus niger) and smooth oreo (Pseudocyttus maculatus) had cysts of unknown aetiology (CUEs) in the gills at prevalences up to 76% and 81%, respectively, in some fishing areas. The CUEs appear long lived and may have some utility for stock discrimination. A hoki (Macruronus novaezelandiae) with X‐cell pseudotumours in the gill was recorded from the Chatham Rise. Alfonsino (Beryx splendens) had conspicuous Kudoa sp. cysts in the gills at prevalences of up to 28%. Smelt (Retropinna retropinna) from the Waikato River were infected with a xenoma forming, Glugea‐like microsporidian.  相似文献   

17.
Samples from eleven stations in the Sargasso Sea, Slope Water, and continental shelf water of the Northwest Atlantic have been analyzed for total iron by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Vertical profiles for iron and associated temperature and nutrient data were obtained at the five open-ocean stations. Data from six stations provided a transect across the continental shelf into the apex of the New York Bight.At open-ocean stations, iron was depleted near the surface to levels of about 1–2 nmol kg?1 and increased to levels of about 4–7 nmol kg?1 in the vicinity of the oxygen minimum. A characteristic bottom-water maximum was observed at stations where closely spaced, near-bottom sampling was conducted. This feature was due at least partially to resuspension of particulate iron associated with the nepheloid layer.Comparison of total iron concentrations (available upon digestion in concentrated nitric acid) to those of filtered samples (0.4 μm) at one Slope Water station indicated that about 40% of the available iron in the water column was associated with the particulate phase. Near the surface, in the vicinity of the chlorophyll maximum, iron was present almost totally in particulate form. The dissolved fraction increased to approximately 50% at the nutrient maximum and approached 100% in the mid-portion of the water column. In deeper waters, the particulate fraction again became important, increasing to approximately 80% of the total iron in the near-bottom maximum.In the apex of the New York Bight, iron levels in excess of 200 and 500 nmol kg?1 were observed in surface and bottom waters, respectively. In the mid-continental shelf region, the iron distribution does not appear to be greatly influenced by coastal sources; within 65 km of the coastline, iron levels approached open-ocean values.  相似文献   

18.
Data presented in this paper are part of an extensive investigation of the physics of cross-shelf water mass exchange in the north-east of New Zealand and its effect on biological processes. Levels of dissolved dimethylsulfide (DMS) were quantified in relation to physical processes and phytoplankton biomass. Measurements were made at three main sites over the north-east continental shelf of New Zealand's North Island during a current-driven upwelling event in late spring 1996 (October) and an oceanic surface water intrusion event in summer 1997 (January). DMS concentrations in the euphotic zone ranged between 0.4 and 12.9 nmol dm−3. Integrated water column DMS concentrations ranged from 33 to 173 μmol m−2 in late spring during the higher biomass (15–62 Chl-a mg m−2) month of October, and from 25 to 38 μmol m−2 in summer during the generally lower biomass (16–42 Chl-a mg m−2) month of January. We observed high levels of DMS in the surface waters at an Inner Shelf site in association with a Noctiluca scintillans bloom which is likely to have enhanced lysis of DMSP-producing algal cells during phagotrophy. Integrated DMS concentrations increased three-fold at a Mid Shelf site over a period of a week in conjunction with a doubling of algal biomass. A high correlation (r2=0.911, significant <0.001) of integrated DMS and chlorophyll-a concentrations for compiled data from all stations indicated that chlorophyll-a biomass may be a reasonable predictor of DMS in this region, even under highly variable hydrographic conditions. Integrated bacterial production was inversely correlated to DMS production, indicating active bacterial consumption of DMS and/or its precursor.  相似文献   

19.
The sea anemones Calliactis conchicola Parry, 1952 and Paracalliactis rosea Hand, 1975, which live associated with gastropods, hermit crabs, and true crabs, possess mounting responses similar to those known for several species of Calliactis. In some areas of New Zealand Calliactis conchicola occurs most abundantly on living gastropods and in others on gastropod shells occupied by hermit crabs. No behaviour by either the gastropod or the hermit crabs was observed which explains this differential distribution. One hermit crab stimulates Paracalliactis rosea to mount its shell by a regular tapping of the anemone with its chelae or dactyls, but ignores Calliactis conchicola. Several other hermit crabs, which may be found carrying these anemones, do not stimulate them to mount. The spider crab Leptomithrax longipes may be found in nature carrying specimens of four kinds of anemones: Calliactis conchicola, Paracalliactis rosea, Bunodactis chrysobathys, and Phellia aucklandica. This crab prises these anemones from most substrates with its chelae, cleans them with its mouth parts, and places them on its legs and carapace with its chelae. From observation, Calliactis conchicola apparently protects this crab from octopus predatiori, but not from other predators such as small sharks. Though associations of anemones with hermit crabs and other invertebrates are usually considered to be commensal, it seems likely that these associations may be mutualistic.  相似文献   

20.
Field measurements on leaf removal by populations of sesarmid crabs at different locations in the Bangrong mangrove forest, Phuket, Thailand, indicated that crabs on average can remove 87% of the daily leaf litter fall by ingestion or burial. The removal rate is correlated positively with the number of crab burrows and negatively with tidal inundation time. The results from the field were supplemented with observations on the behavior of Neoepisesarma versicolor in laboratory microcosms and a mangrove mesocosm. N. versicolor feeds primarily at night and total time spent feeding was up to an order of magnitude higher in the artificial microcosms than under simulated in situ conditions in the mesocosm. Most of the time during both day and night was spent resting near the entrance or inside burrows. N. versicolor mainly feeds on mangrove leaves and scraps of food material from the sediment surface. This is supported by examinations of stomach content, which showed that 62% is composed of higher plant material and 38% of detritus and mineral particles from the sediment. The nutritive value of leaves and detritus is insufficient to maintain crab growth. Sesarmid crabs may instead obtain the needed nutrients by occasional consumption of nitrogen-rich animal tissues, such as carcasses of fish and crustaceans, as indicated by the presence of animal remains in the stomach and the willingness of crabs to consume fish meat. Laboratory experiments on leaf consumption and leaf preferences of N. versicolor indicate that they preferentially feed on brown leaves, if available, followed by green and yellow leaves. If all species of sesarmid crabs in the Bangrong mangrove forest consume leaves at the same rate as N. versicolor, they could potentially ingest 52% of the total litter fall.  相似文献   

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