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Niche overlap and resource partitioning between two intertidal hermit crab species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2017

Guillermina Alcaraz Open the ORCID record for Guillermina Alcaraz [Opens in a new window]  and
Karla Kruesi
Guillermina Alcaraz*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ecofisiología, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City 04510, México
Karla Kruesi
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ecofisiología, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City 04510, México
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: G. Alcaraz, Laboratorio de Ecofisiología, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City 04510, México email: alcaraz@ciencias.unam.mx
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Abstract

The gastropod shell influences important aspects of the hermit crab's life; however, the shells are commonly a limited resource. Therefore, different hermit crab species that coexist in intertidal areas are commonly involved in intraspecific and interspecific competition for shells. We assess if differences in shell preference, exploitation ability, or competition by interference can explain the partitioning of shells between the coexisting species Calcinus californiensis and Clibanarius albidigitus. Clibanarius preferred shells of Nerita funiculata among the six gastropod shells tested, while Calcinus did not establish a hierarchy in shell preference. Therefore, the preference for gastropod shell species does not seem to diminish the competition for shells in the wild. Clibanarius identified and attended to chemical cues signalling potential sites of available shells (chemical cues of dead gastropods); Calcinus did not respond to these cues (competition by exploitation). However, Calcinus was more successful in obtaining a new shell by interspecific shell fighting than Clibanarius. Consequently, the use of better quality shells (intact shells) by Calcinus in the wild can be explained by its greater fighting ability compared with Clibanarius. The bias in shell distributions through dominance by shell fighting, more than by exploitation ability, has also been suggested for other hermit crab species of these genera.

Keywords

competitioninterferencenichepartitioninggastropod shells
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 99 , Issue 1 , February 2019 , pp. 135 - 142
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2017 

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