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Effects of epibiotic Enteromorpha spp. on the mole crab Emerita analoga in the Peruvian central coast

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2008

Fausto N. Firstater ,
Fernando J. Hidalgo ,
Betina J. Lomovasky ,
Percy Gallegos ,
Patricia Gamero  and
Oscar O. Iribarne
Fausto N. Firstater*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ecología, Departamento de Biología, FCEyN, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, CC 573 Correo Central, B7600WAG, Mar del Plata, Argentina
Fernando J. Hidalgo
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ecología, Departamento de Biología, FCEyN, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, CC 573 Correo Central, B7600WAG, Mar del Plata, Argentina
Betina J. Lomovasky
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ecología, Departamento de Biología, FCEyN, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, CC 573 Correo Central, B7600WAG, Mar del Plata, Argentina Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Rivadavia 1917, (1033) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Percy Gallegos
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Apartado 1898, Lima 100, Peru
Patricia Gamero
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Apartado 1898, Lima 100, Peru
Oscar O. Iribarne
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ecología, Departamento de Biología, FCEyN, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, CC 573 Correo Central, B7600WAG, Mar del Plata, Argentina Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Rivadavia 1917, (1033) Buenos Aires, Argentina
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Fausto N. Firstater, Laboratorio de Ecología, Departamento de Biología, FCEyN, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, CC 573 Correo Central, B7600WAG, Mar del Plata, Argentina email: firstate@mdp.edu.ar
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Abstract

Epibiotic interactions between macroalgae and crustaceans have rarely been described. We examined the interaction between the mole crab, Emerita analoga and the opportunistic algae Enteromopha spp. in a sandy beach of the central coast of Peru. Enteromorpha spp. was found fouling the carapace of the mole crab that provides the only stable substrate to spore settlement in the beach environment. Epibiosis prevalence was up to 2.1%, and affected mainly larger, ovigerous females. Prevalence presented a seasonal pattern, with peaks during summer. Mole crab body condition was higher when fouled, whereas fecundity was not affected. Fouled mole crabs burrowed at lower speed, which was reversible by the removal of epibiotic algae. The burrowing depth was not affected by epibiosis. Contrary to the expected, the effects of algal epibiosis on demographic and life history parameters of mole crabs, with the exception of body condition, were mainly neutral but important on behavioural traits.

Keywords

epibiosisEnteromorpha spp.mole crabEmerita analogaPeruvian central coast
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 89 , Issue 2 , March 2009 , pp. 363 - 370
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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