Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T22:36:20.522Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A behaviour pattern in Pagurus bernhardus L. towards its symbiotic actinian Calliactis parasitica (Couch)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

D. M. Ross
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E9

Extract

In earlier behavioural studies carried out at the Plymouth Laboratory, Pagurus bernhardus L. displayed no activity towards its symbiotic actinian, Calliactis parasitica (Couch) (Ross, 1960; Ross & Sutton, 1961 a). This was in marked contrast to other familiar pagurid/actinian associations, e.g. with Dardanus spp., in which the pagurid participates actively in the transfer of Calliactis to its shells (Brunelli, 1910; Faurot 1910; Ross & Sutton, 1961 b; Ross, 1970, 1974). In the case of P. bernhardus and C. parasitica, laboratory trials showed that contact of the anemone's tentacles with a shell, even an unoccupied shell or one of a living gastropod, releases a sequential behaviour pattern in which the anemone frees its pedal disc and somersaults to the shell. It has been argued (Ross, 1967) that this association exists solely because of the behaviour pattern by which C. parasitica climbs on shells.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Balasch, J. & Mengual, V., 1974. The behavior of Dardanus arrosor in association with Calliactis parasitica in artificial habitat. Marine Behaviour and Physiology, 2, 251260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunelli, G., 1910. Osservasioni ed esperienze sulla simbiosi dei Paguri e delle Attinie. Aui dell'Accademia nazionale dei Lincei. Rendiconli della Classe di scienze fisiche, matematiche e naturali, 19, 7782.Google Scholar
Faurot, L., 1910. Étude sur les associations entre les pagures et les actinies; Eupagurusprideauxi Heller et Adamsia palliata Forbes, Pagurus striatus Latreille et Sagartia parasitica Gosse. Archives de zoologie experimentale et générale, 5, 421486.Google Scholar
Ross, D. M., 1960. The association between the hermit crab Eupagurus bernhardus (L.) and the sea anemone Calliactis parasitica (Couch). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 134, 4357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ross, D. M., 1967. Behaviour and ecological relationships between sea anemones and other invertebrates. Oceanography and Marine Biology, an Annual Review, 5, 291316.Google Scholar
Ross, D. M., 1970. The commensal association of Calliactis polypus and the hermit crab Dardanus gemmatus in Hawaii. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 48, 351357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ross, D. M., 1971. Protection of hermit crabs (Dardanus spp.) from octopus by commensal sea anemones (Calliactis spp.). Nature, London, 230, 401402.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ross, D. M., 1974. Behavior patterns in associations and interactions with other animals. In Coelenterate Biology, Reviews and New Perspectives (ed. Muscatine, L. and Lenhoff, H. M.), pp. 281312. London and New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ross, D. M. & Sutton, L., 1961 a. The response of the sea anomone Calliactis parasitica to shells of the hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus. Proceedings of the Royal Society (B), 155, 266281.Google Scholar
Ross, D. M. & Sutton, L., 1961 b. The association between the hermit crab Dardanus arrosor (Herbst) and the sea anemone Calliactis parasitica (Couch). Proceedings of the Royal Society (B), 155, 282291.Google Scholar