Temporal distribution in the abundance of the fiddler crab Uca (Leptuca) uruguayensis Nobili, 1901 (Decapoda: Ocypodidae) from Garças River mangrove, Guaratuba Bay, southern Brazil

Martins, Salise Brandt; Masunari, Setuko

Abstract

A study on the temporal distribution, sex ratio, reproductive period, recruitment of juveniles and size composition of individuals of the fiddler crab Uca (Leptuca) uruguayensis was carried out in a population living in the Garças River mangrove, Guaratuba Bay, Paraná State, Brazil. Eight square samples of 0.25 m² (0.50 m side) were obtained on a monthly basis, from April/2011 to March/2012. The crabs were collected through the excavation of burrows and their carapace width (CW) was measured. Air and water temperatures varied from 19.0 to 29.5ºC and 17.0 to 27.0ºC, respectively, the salinity from 7 to 23 and the soil temperature from 19.0 to 29.2ºC. A total of 1,099 fiddler crabs were collected, being 529 males, 520 females (of these, 9 ovigerous) and 50 sexually undifferentiated individuals. The average density of the population ranged from 12 (June/11) to 71 ind.m-² (May/11), but its annual fluctuation was not correlated to abiotic variables. The sex ratio was 1:1 all year round and in all CW classes. Although in low abundance, ovigerous females were recorded in six months and juvenile crabs were present all year round, indicating a continuous reproduction and recruitment of the species. The CW of males ranged from 2.33 to 8.33 mm and that of females, from 2.52 to 7.79 mm: these data showed that this population is composed of smallest individuals among those studied

Annual fluctuation; reproductive period; recruitment; sex ratio

References

Adiyodi, K.G. and Adiyodi R.G. 1970. Endocrine control of reproduction Decapoda Crustacea. Biological Review, 45: 121-165.
Bedê, L.M.; Oshiro, L.M.Y.; Mendes, L.M.D. and Silva, A.A. 2008. Comparação da estrutura populacional das espécies de Uca (Crustacea: Decapoda: Ocypodidae) no Manguezal de Itacuruçá, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia, 25(4): 601-607.
Bezerra, L.E.A. 2012. The fiddler crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura: Ocypodidae: genus Uca) of the South Atlantic Ocean. Nauplius, 20(2): 203-246.
Bezerra, L.E.A. and Matthews-Cascon, H. 2006. Population structure of the fiddler crab Uca leptodactyla Rathbun, 1898 (Brachyura: Ocypodidae) in a tropical mangrove of northeast Brazil. Thalassas, 22(1): 65-75.
Bezerra, L.E.A. and Matthews-Cascon, H. 2007. Population and reproductive biology of the fiddler crab Uca thayeri Rathbun, 1900 (Crustacea: Ocypodidae) in a tropical mangrove from Northeast Brazil. Acta Oecologica, 31(3): 251-258.
Boschi, E.E. 2000. Species of decapod crustaceans and their distribution in the American marine zoogeographic provinces. Revista de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero, 13: 7- 136.
Branco, J.O. 1991. Aspectos ecológicos dos Brachyura (Crustacea: Decapoda) no manguezal do Itacorubi, SC, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia, 7(1-2): 165-179.
Castiglioni, D.S.; Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. and Mortari, R.C. 2006. Biologia populacional do caranguejo violinista Uca rapax (Smith, 1870) (Crustacea, Ocypodidae), proveniente de uma área de manguezal degradado em Paraty, RJ, Brasil. Atlântica, 28(2): 73-86.
César, I.I.; Armendariz, L.C. and Becerra, R.V. 2005. Bioecology of the fiddler crab Uca uruguayensis and the burrowing crab Chasmagnathus granulatus (Decapoda, Brachyura) in the Refugio de Vida Silvestre, Bahía Samborombón, Argentina. Hydrobiologia, 545(1), 237-248.
César, I.I.; Armendáriz, L.C. and Becerra, R.V. 2007. Fecundity of Uca uruguayensis and Chasmagnathus granulatus (Decapoda, Brachyura) from the "Refúgio de Vida Silvestre", Bahía Samborombón, Argentina. Brazilian Journal of Biology, 67(4): 749-753.
Christy, J.H. and Salmon, M. 1984. Ecology and evolution of mating systems of fiddler crabs (genus Uca). Biological Review, 59: 483-509.
Christy, J.H. and Salmon, M. 1991. Comparative studies of reproductive behavior in mantis shrimps and fiddler crabs. American Zoologist, 31(2): 329-337.
Colby, D.R. and Fonseca, M.S. 1984. Population dynamics, spatial dispersion and somatic growth of the sand fiddler crab Uca pugilator Marine Ecology Progress Series, 16: 269-279.
Colpo, K.D. and Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. 2004. Comparison of the population structure of the fiddler crab Uca vocator (Herbst, 1804) from three subtropical mangrove forests. Scientia Marina, 68(1): 139-146.
Costa, T.M. and Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. 2002. Population biology of Uca thayeri Rathbun, 1900 (Brachyura, Ocypodidae) in a subtropical South American mangrove area: results from transect and catch-per-unit-effort techniques. Crustaceana, 75(10): 1201-1218.
Costa, T.M.; Silva, S.M.J. and Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. 2006. Reproductive pattern comparison of Uca thayeri Rathbun, 1900 and Uca uruguayensis Nobili, 1901 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae). Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology, 49(1): 117-123.
Crane, J. 1975. Fiddlers crabs of the world (Ocypodidade: Genus Uca). Princeton University, Princeton, 736p.
Di Benedetto, M. and Masunari, S. 2009. Estrutura populacional de Uca maracoani (Decapoda, Brachyura, Ocypodidae) no Baixio Mirim, Baía de Guaratuba, Paraná. Iheringia, Serie Zoologia 99(4): 381-389.
Díaz, H. and Conde, J.E. 1989. Population dynamics and life history of the mangrove crab Aratus pisonii (Brachyura, Grapsidae) in a marine environment. Bulletin of Marine Science, 45(1): 148-163.
Emmerson, W.D. 1994. Seasonal breeding cycles and sex ratio of eight species of crabs from Magazana, a mangrove estuary in Transkei, southern Africa. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 14(3): 568-578.
Fransozo, V.; Mortari, R.C. and Benetti, A.S. 2009. Population biology of Uca mordax (Smith, 1870) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae) from the southeastern coast of Brazil. Estudos de Biologia, 31(73/74/75): 23-31.
Genoni, G.P. 1985. Food limitation in salt marsh fiddler crabs Uca rapax (Smith) (Decapoda: Ocypodidae). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 87: 97-110.
Giesel, J.T. 1972. Sex ratio, rate of evolution, and environmental heterogeneity. American Naturalist, 949(106): 380-387.
Henmi, Y. and Kaneto, M. 1989. Reproductive Ecology of Three Ocypodid Crabs. 1. The Influence of Activity Differences on Reproductive. Ecological Research, 4: 17-29.
Hirose, G.L; Fransozo, V.; Tropea, C.; López-Greco, L.S. and Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. 2012. Comparison of body size, relative growth and size at onset maturity of Uca uruguayensis (Crustacea, Decapoda: Ocypodidae) from different latitudes in the south-western Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 93: 781-788.
Hirose, G.L. and Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. 2008. Population biology of Uca maracoani Latreille 1802-1803 (Crustacea, Brachyura, Ocypodidae) on the southeastern coast of Brazil. Pan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences, 3: 373-383.
Johnson, P.T.J. 2003. Biased sex ratios in fiddler crabs (Brachyura, Ocypodidae): A review and evaluation of the influence of sampling method, size class, and sex-specific mortality. Crustaceana, 76: 559-580.
Koch, V.; Wolff, M. and Diele, K. 2005. Comparative population dynamics of four fiddler crabs (Ocypodidae, genus Uca) from a North Brazilian mangrove ecosystem. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 291: 177-188.
Litulo, C. 2004. Fecundity of the pantropical fiddler Crab Uca anuulipes (H. Milne Edwards, 1837) (Brachyura: Ocypodidae) at Costa do sol Mangrove, Maputo Bay, southern Mozambique. Western Indian Ocean Journal Marine Science, 3(1): 87-91.
Litulo, C. 2005. Population biology of the fiddler crab Uca annulipes (Brachyura: Ocypodidae) in a tropical East Africa mangrove (Mozambique). Estuarine Coastal Marine Science, 62: 283-290.
Martins, S.B. and Masunari, S. 2013. Relative growth in the fiddler crab Uca uruguayensis Nobili, 1901 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae) from Garças River mangrove, Guaratuba Bay, southern Brazil. Nauplius, 21(1): 35-41.
Masunari, S. 2006. Distribuição e abundância dos caranguejos Uca Leach (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae) na Baía de Guaratuba, Paraná, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia, 23(4): 901-14.
Melo, G.A.S. 1996. Manual de identificação dos Brachyura (caranguejos e siris) do litoral brasileiro. Plêiade/FAPESP, São Paulo, 604p.
Montague, C.L. 1980. A natural history of temperate western Atlantic fiddler crabs (Genus Uca) with reference to their impact on the salt marsh. Contributions in Marine Science, 23: 25-55.
Murai, M.; Goshima, S. and Henmi, Y. 1987. Analysis of the mating system of the fiddler crab, Uca lactea Animal Behavior, 35: 1334-1342.
Oshiro, L.MY.; Silva, R. and Silva, Z.S. 1998. Composição da fauna de braquiúros (Crustacea, Decapoda) dos manguezais da Baía de Sepetiba, RJ. Nauplius, 6: 31-40.
Rabalais, N.N. and Cameron, J.N. 1985. The effects of factors important in semi-arid environments on the early development of Uca subcylindrica The Biological Bulletin, 168(1): 147-160.
Ribeiro, P.D.; Iribarne, O.O.; Jaureguy, L.; Navarro, D. and Bogazzi, E. 2003. Variable sex-specific mortality due to shorebird predation on a fiddler crab. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 81: 1209-1221.
Salmon, M. 1987. On the reproductive behavior of the fiddler crab Uca thayeri, with comparisons to U. pugilator and U. vocans: evidence for behavioral convergence. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 7(1): 25-44.
Souza, G.D. and Fontoura, N.F. 1993. Estrutura populacional e fecundidade de Pachygrapsus transversus (Saussure, 1858), no mole do rio Tramandaí, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil (Crustacea, Decapoda, Grapsidae). Comunicações do Museu de Ciências e Tecnologia, 52: 29-37.
Spivak, E.D.; Gavio, M.A. and Navarro, C.E. 1991. Life history and structure of the world's southernmost Uca populations: Uca uruguayensis (Crustacea: Brachyura) in Mar Chiquita lagoon (Argentina). Bulletin of Marine Science, 48: 679-688.
Thurman, C.L. 1985. Reproductive biology and population structure of the fiddler crab Uca subcylindrica (Stimpson). Biological Bulletin, 169: 215-229.
Valiela, J.M.; Babiec, D.E.; Atherton, W.; Seitzinger, S. and Krebs, C. 1974. Some consequences of sexual dimorfism: feeding in male and female fiddler crabs Uca pugnax (Smith). Biological Bulletin, 147: 652-660.
Warner, G.F. 1967. The life history of mangrove tree crab, Aratus pisonii Journal of Zoology, 153: 321-335.
Wenner, A.M. 1972. Sex-ratio as a function of size in marine Crustacea. American Naturalist, 106: 321-350.
Wilson, M.F. and Pianka, E.R. 1963. Sexual selection, sex ratio and mating system. American Naturalist, 97: 405-407.
Wolf, P.; Shanholtaer, S.F. and Reimold, R.J. 1975. Population estimates for Uca pugnax on Duplin estuary marsh. Georgia, USA. Crustaceana, 29: 79-91.
Zar, J.H. 1996. Biostatistical analysis. Prentice-Hall, Upper Sadle River, 662p.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
27 Jan 2015
Date of issue
Dec 2013

History

Received
22 May 2013
Accepted
30 Nov 2013

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

[1] Adiyodi, K.G. and Adiyodi R.G. 1970. Endocrine control of reproduction Decapoda Crustacea. Biological Review, 45: 121-165.

[2] Bedê, L.M.; Oshiro, L.M.Y.; Mendes, L.M.D. and Silva, A.A. 2008. Comparação da estrutura populacional das espécies de Uca (Crustacea: Decapoda: Ocypodidae) no Manguezal de Itacuruçá, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia, 25(4): 601-607.

[3] Bezerra, L.E.A. 2012. The fiddler crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura: Ocypodidae: genus Uca) of the South Atlantic Ocean. Nauplius, 20(2): 203-246.

[4] Bezerra, L.E.A. and Matthews-Cascon, H. 2006. Population structure of the fiddler crab Uca leptodactyla Rathbun, 1898 (Brachyura: Ocypodidae) in a tropical mangrove of northeast Brazil. Thalassas, 22(1): 65-75.

[5] Bezerra, L.E.A. and Matthews-Cascon, H. 2007. Population and reproductive biology of the fiddler crab Uca thayeri Rathbun, 1900 (Crustacea: Ocypodidae) in a tropical mangrove from Northeast Brazil. Acta Oecologica, 31(3): 251-258.

[6] Boschi, E.E. 2000. Species of decapod crustaceans and their distribution in the American marine zoogeographic provinces. Revista de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero, 13: 7- 136.

[7] Branco, J.O. 1991. Aspectos ecológicos dos Brachyura (Crustacea: Decapoda) no manguezal do Itacorubi, SC, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia, 7(1-2): 165-179.

[8] Castiglioni, D.S.; Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. and Mortari, R.C. 2006. Biologia populacional do caranguejo violinista Uca rapax (Smith, 1870) (Crustacea, Ocypodidae), proveniente de uma área de manguezal degradado em Paraty, RJ, Brasil. Atlântica, 28(2): 73-86.

[9] César, I.I.; Armendariz, L.C. and Becerra, R.V. 2005. Bioecology of the fiddler crab Uca uruguayensis and the burrowing crab Chasmagnathus granulatus (Decapoda, Brachyura) in the Refugio de Vida Silvestre, Bahía Samborombón, Argentina. Hydrobiologia, 545(1), 237-248.

[10] César, I.I.; Armendáriz, L.C. and Becerra, R.V. 2007. Fecundity of Uca uruguayensis and Chasmagnathus granulatus (Decapoda, Brachyura) from the "Refúgio de Vida Silvestre", Bahía Samborombón, Argentina. Brazilian Journal of Biology, 67(4): 749-753.

[11] Christy, J.H. and Salmon, M. 1984. Ecology and evolution of mating systems of fiddler crabs (genus Uca). Biological Review, 59: 483-509.

[12] Christy, J.H. and Salmon, M. 1991. Comparative studies of reproductive behavior in mantis shrimps and fiddler crabs. American Zoologist, 31(2): 329-337.

[13] Colby, D.R. and Fonseca, M.S. 1984. Population dynamics, spatial dispersion and somatic growth of the sand fiddler crab Uca pugilator Marine Ecology Progress Series, 16: 269-279.

[14] Colpo, K.D. and Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. 2004. Comparison of the population structure of the fiddler crab Uca vocator (Herbst, 1804) from three subtropical mangrove forests. Scientia Marina, 68(1): 139-146.

[15] Costa, T.M. and Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. 2002. Population biology of Uca thayeri Rathbun, 1900 (Brachyura, Ocypodidae) in a subtropical South American mangrove area: results from transect and catch-per-unit-effort techniques. Crustaceana, 75(10): 1201-1218.

[16] Costa, T.M.; Silva, S.M.J. and Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. 2006. Reproductive pattern comparison of Uca thayeri Rathbun, 1900 and Uca uruguayensis Nobili, 1901 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae). Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology, 49(1): 117-123.

[17] Crane, J. 1975. Fiddlers crabs of the world (Ocypodidade: Genus Uca). Princeton University, Princeton, 736p.

[18] Di Benedetto, M. and Masunari, S. 2009. Estrutura populacional de Uca maracoani (Decapoda, Brachyura, Ocypodidae) no Baixio Mirim, Baía de Guaratuba, Paraná. Iheringia, Serie Zoologia 99(4): 381-389.

[19] Díaz, H. and Conde, J.E. 1989. Population dynamics and life history of the mangrove crab Aratus pisonii (Brachyura, Grapsidae) in a marine environment. Bulletin of Marine Science, 45(1): 148-163.

[20] Emmerson, W.D. 1994. Seasonal breeding cycles and sex ratio of eight species of crabs from Magazana, a mangrove estuary in Transkei, southern Africa. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 14(3): 568-578.

[21] Fransozo, V.; Mortari, R.C. and Benetti, A.S. 2009. Population biology of Uca mordax (Smith, 1870) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae) from the southeastern coast of Brazil. Estudos de Biologia, 31(73/74/75): 23-31.

[22] Genoni, G.P. 1985. Food limitation in salt marsh fiddler crabs Uca rapax (Smith) (Decapoda: Ocypodidae). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 87: 97-110.

[23] Giesel, J.T. 1972. Sex ratio, rate of evolution, and environmental heterogeneity. American Naturalist, 949(106): 380-387.

[24] Henmi, Y. and Kaneto, M. 1989. Reproductive Ecology of Three Ocypodid Crabs. 1. The Influence of Activity Differences on Reproductive. Ecological Research, 4: 17-29.

[25] Hirose, G.L; Fransozo, V.; Tropea, C.; López-Greco, L.S. and Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. 2012. Comparison of body size, relative growth and size at onset maturity of Uca uruguayensis (Crustacea, Decapoda: Ocypodidae) from different latitudes in the south-western Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 93: 781-788.

[26] Hirose, G.L. and Negreiros-Fransozo, M.L. 2008. Population biology of Uca maracoani Latreille 1802-1803 (Crustacea, Brachyura, Ocypodidae) on the southeastern coast of Brazil. Pan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences, 3: 373-383.

[27] Johnson, P.T.J. 2003. Biased sex ratios in fiddler crabs (Brachyura, Ocypodidae): A review and evaluation of the influence of sampling method, size class, and sex-specific mortality. Crustaceana, 76: 559-580.

[28] Koch, V.; Wolff, M. and Diele, K. 2005. Comparative population dynamics of four fiddler crabs (Ocypodidae, genus Uca) from a North Brazilian mangrove ecosystem. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 291: 177-188.

[29] Litulo, C. 2004. Fecundity of the pantropical fiddler Crab Uca anuulipes (H. Milne Edwards, 1837) (Brachyura: Ocypodidae) at Costa do sol Mangrove, Maputo Bay, southern Mozambique. Western Indian Ocean Journal Marine Science, 3(1): 87-91.

[30] Litulo, C. 2005. Population biology of the fiddler crab Uca annulipes (Brachyura: Ocypodidae) in a tropical East Africa mangrove (Mozambique). Estuarine Coastal Marine Science, 62: 283-290.

[31] Martins, S.B. and Masunari, S. 2013. Relative growth in the fiddler crab Uca uruguayensis Nobili, 1901 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae) from Garças River mangrove, Guaratuba Bay, southern Brazil. Nauplius, 21(1): 35-41.

[32] Masunari, S. 2006. Distribuição e abundância dos caranguejos Uca Leach (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae) na Baía de Guaratuba, Paraná, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia, 23(4): 901-14.

[33] Melo, G.A.S. 1996. Manual de identificação dos Brachyura (caranguejos e siris) do litoral brasileiro. Plêiade/FAPESP, São Paulo, 604p.

[34] Montague, C.L. 1980. A natural history of temperate western Atlantic fiddler crabs (Genus Uca) with reference to their impact on the salt marsh. Contributions in Marine Science, 23: 25-55.

[35] Murai, M.; Goshima, S. and Henmi, Y. 1987. Analysis of the mating system of the fiddler crab, Uca lactea Animal Behavior, 35: 1334-1342.

[36] Oshiro, L.MY.; Silva, R. and Silva, Z.S. 1998. Composição da fauna de braquiúros (Crustacea, Decapoda) dos manguezais da Baía de Sepetiba, RJ. Nauplius, 6: 31-40.

[37] Rabalais, N.N. and Cameron, J.N. 1985. The effects of factors important in semi-arid environments on the early development of Uca subcylindrica The Biological Bulletin, 168(1): 147-160.

[38] Ribeiro, P.D.; Iribarne, O.O.; Jaureguy, L.; Navarro, D. and Bogazzi, E. 2003. Variable sex-specific mortality due to shorebird predation on a fiddler crab. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 81: 1209-1221.

[39] Salmon, M. 1987. On the reproductive behavior of the fiddler crab Uca thayeri, with comparisons to U. pugilator and U. vocans: evidence for behavioral convergence. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 7(1): 25-44.

[40] Souza, G.D. and Fontoura, N.F. 1993. Estrutura populacional e fecundidade de Pachygrapsus transversus (Saussure, 1858), no mole do rio Tramandaí, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil (Crustacea, Decapoda, Grapsidae). Comunicações do Museu de Ciências e Tecnologia, 52: 29-37.

[41] Spivak, E.D.; Gavio, M.A. and Navarro, C.E. 1991. Life history and structure of the world's southernmost Uca populations: Uca uruguayensis (Crustacea: Brachyura) in Mar Chiquita lagoon (Argentina). Bulletin of Marine Science, 48: 679-688.

[42] Thurman, C.L. 1985. Reproductive biology and population structure of the fiddler crab Uca subcylindrica (Stimpson). Biological Bulletin, 169: 215-229.

[43] Valiela, J.M.; Babiec, D.E.; Atherton, W.; Seitzinger, S. and Krebs, C. 1974. Some consequences of sexual dimorfism: feeding in male and female fiddler crabs Uca pugnax (Smith). Biological Bulletin, 147: 652-660.

[44] Warner, G.F. 1967. The life history of mangrove tree crab, Aratus pisonii Journal of Zoology, 153: 321-335.

[45] Wenner, A.M. 1972. Sex-ratio as a function of size in marine Crustacea. American Naturalist, 106: 321-350.

[46] Wilson, M.F. and Pianka, E.R. 1963. Sexual selection, sex ratio and mating system. American Naturalist, 97: 405-407.

[47] Wolf, P.; Shanholtaer, S.F. and Reimold, R.J. 1975. Population estimates for Uca pugnax on Duplin estuary marsh. Georgia, USA. Crustaceana, 29: 79-91.

[48] Zar, J.H. 1996. Biostatistical analysis. Prentice-Hall, Upper Sadle River, 662p.