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Incidence and biology of Arcotheres tivelae (Crustacea: Decapoda) in Amiantis umbonella (Bivalvia: Veneridae) on the northern coast of the Persian Gulf, Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2010

Hanieh Saeedi*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Biological Science, Shahid Besheti University, GC, Tehran, Iran
Aria A. Ardalan
Affiliation:
Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Tehran–North Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: H. Saeedi, Faculty of Biological Science, Besheti University, GC, Tehran, Iran. email: h62s@yahoo.com

Abstract

The occurrence of pinnotherid crab Arcotheres tivelae in the bivalve mollusc Amiantis umbonella was investigated for one year on the Bandar Abbas coast (Persian Gulf, Iran). Specimens of A. umbonella were collected monthly from two transects from April 2007 to March 2008 and were investigated for presence of the Arcotheres tivelae. Infestation frequency of A. tivelae was 9.18% in a sample of 893 clams. From a total of 89 specimens of crabs, only eight were male. They were observed in late February and early March, all of them but one in association with female crabs. There was no significant difference between the sexes of the infested clams that pea crabs choose as a host. The mean carapace width of the crab A. tivelae was 7.7 ± 1.7 mm and the mean length of the Amiantis umbonella was 39.84 ± 8.93 mm. Clams in the mid and low tidal zones were more infested. There was no significant relationship between clam length–crab width (R2 = 0.28). The mean fecundity of crabs was 2517 ± 864 eggs. Infection caused a reduction of flesh weight of clams. There was no significant correlation between the frequency of crabs' occurrence and the temporal variability of water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH in different months. This study provides the first report of the distribution of pea crabs A. tivelae in A. umbonella, a new clam host record in Iran.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

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