Field observations of the behavior of mangrove climbing sesarmid crabs in Anibong Bay, Tacloban City, Philippines
Bryan Joseph Matillano, Angel Melody Legera, Christine Grace Bautista
Abstract
Two years after Super Typhoon Haiyan, six different species of tree-climbing sesarmid crabs were identified in Anibong Bay. In the three- week surveillance from April to June 2015, crabs were observed climbing the upper premises of the mangrove trees during high tide and moving down to mangal floors (mud) during low tide. Foraging on senescent and decayed leaves occurred both daytime and nighttime. Some crabs were observed bringing food to their mud mounds and burrows. This paper depicts behavioral patterns of sesarmid crabs in reference to its climbing, feeding and burrowing after a large scale disturbance.
Keywords
References
Allen CD, Macalady AK, Chenchouni H, Bachelet D, McDowell N, Vennetier M, Gonzalez, P (2010) A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests. Forest ecology and management, 259:660-684.
Ashton EC (2002) Mangrove sesarmid crab feeding experiments in Peninsular Malaysia. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 273:97-119.
Botto F, Iribarne O (2000) Contrasting effects of two burrowing crabs (Chasmagnathus granulata and Uca uruguayensis) on sediment composition and transport in estuarine environments. Estuarine, coastal and shelf Science, 51:141-151.
Catford JA, Daehler CC, Murphy HT, Sheppard AW, Hardesty BD, Westcott DA, Hulme PE (2012) The intermediate disturbance hypothesis and plant invasions: Implications for species richness and management. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 14:231-241.
Dittmann S (2001) Abundance and distribution of small infauna in mangroves of Missionary Bay, North Queensland, Australia. Revista de biología tropical, 49:535-544.
Ellison AM (2008) Managing mangroves with benthic biodiversity in mind: moving beyond roving banditry. Journal of Sea Research, 59:2-15.
Emmerson WD, McGwynne LE (1992) Feeding and assimilation of mangrove leaves by the crab Sesarma meinerti de Man in relation to leaf-litter production in Mgazana, a warm-temperate southern African mangrove swamp. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 157:41-53.
Estampor EP (1959) Revised Check List of Philippine Crustacean Decapods. Retrieved from URL https://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/25441/25441.pdf
Fratini S, Cannicci S, Vannini M (2000) Competition and interaction between Neosarmatium smithi (Crustacea: Grapsidae) and Terebralia palustris (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in a Kenyan mangrove. Marine Biology, 137:309-316.
Giddins RL, Lucas JS, Neilson MJ, Richards GN (1986) Feeding ecology of the mangrove crab Neosarmatium smithi (Crustacea: Decapoda: Sesarmidae). Marine Ecology Progress Series, 147-155.
Harada Y, Lee SY (2016) Foraging behavior of the mangrove sesarmid crab Neosarmatium trispinosum enhances food intake and nutrient retention in a low-quality food environment. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 174:41-48.
Kricher J (2011) Tropical ecology. Princeton University Press.
Kristensen E, Alongi DM (2006) Control by fiddler crabs (Uca vocans) and plant roots (Avicennia marina) on carbon, iron, and sulfur biogeochemistry in mangrove sediment. Limnology and Oceanography, 51:1557-1571.
Lee SY (1997) Potential trophic importance of the faecal material of the mangrove sesarmine crab Sesarma messa. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 275-284.
Lee SY (1998) Ecological role of grapsid crabs in mangrove ecosystems: A review. Mar Freshw Res, 49:335–343.
Lee SY (2008) Mangrove macrobenthos: assemblages, services, and linkages. Journal of Sea Research, 59:16-29.
Leh CMU, Sasekumar A (1985) The food of sesarmid crabs in Malaysian mangrove forests. Malayan Nature Journal, 39:135-145.
Long J, Giri C, Primavera J, Trivedi M (2016) Damage and recovery assessment of the Philippines' mangroves following Super Typhoon Haiyan. Marine pollution bulletin, 109:734-743.
Masagca JT (2009) Feeding Ecology Of Tree-Climbing Mangrove Sesarmid Crabs From Luzon, Philippines. Biotropia 16:1-10.
Mouton EC, Felder DL (1996) Burrow distributions and population estimates for the fiddler crabs Uca spinicarpa and Uca longisignalis in a Gulf of Mexico salt marsh. Estuaries and Coasts, 19:51-61.
Myers N, Mittermeier RA, Mittermeier CG, Da Fonseca GA, Kent J (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature, 403:853.
Nañola CL, Aliño PM, Carpenter KE (2011) Exploitation-related reef fish species richness depletion in the epicenter of marine biodiversity. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 90:405-420.
Nordhaus I, Salewski T, Jennerjahn TC (2011) Food preferences of mangrove crabs related to leaf nitrogen compounds in the Segara Anakan Lagoon, Java, Indonesia. Journal of Sea Research, 65:414-426.
Parmesan C, Matthews J (2006) Biological impacts of climate change. Principles of Conservation Biology. Sinauer Associates, Inc. Sunderland, Massachusetts, 333-374.
Primavera JH, de la Cruz M, Montilijao C, Consunji H, de la Paz M, Rollon RN, Blanco A (2016) Preliminary assessment of post-Haiyan mangrove damage and short-term recovery in Eastern Samar, central Philippines. Marine pollution bulletin, 109:744-750.
Sanciangco JC, Carpenter KE, Etnoyer PJ, Moretzsohn F (2013) Habitat availability and heterogeneity and the Indo-Pacific warm pool as predictors of marine species richness in the tropical Indo-Pacific. PLoS One, 8:e56245.
Shanij K, Praveen VP, Suresh S, Oommen MM, Nayar TS (2016) Tree climbing and temporal niche shifting: an anti-predatory strategy in the mangrove crab Parasesarma plicatum (Latreille, 1803). Current Science, 111:1201-1207.
Kent CPS, McGuinness KA (2008) Feeding selectivity of sesarmid crabs from northern Australian mangrove forests. The Beagle: Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, 24:23-31
Skov MW, Hartnoll RG (2002) Paradoxical selective feeding on a low-nutrient diet: why do mangrove crabs eat leaves? Oecologia, 131:1-7.
Skov MW, Vannini M, Shunula J, Hartnoll R, Cannicci S (2002) Quantifying the density of mangrove crabs: Ocypodidae and Grapsidae. Marine Biology, 141:725-732.
Slim FJ, Hemminga MA, Ochieng C, Jannink NT, De La Moriniere EC, Van der Velde G (1997) Leaf litter removal by the snail Terebralia palustris (Linnaeus) and sesarmid crabs in an East African mangrove forest (Gazi Bay, Kenya). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 215:35-48.
Smith TJ (1987) Seed predation in relation to tree dominance anddistribution in mangrove forests. Ecology, 68:266–273.
Smith TJ, Boto KG, Frusher SD, Giddins RL (1991) Keystone species and mangrove forest dynamics- the influence of burrowing by crabs on soil nutrient status and forest productivity. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci, 33:419–432.
Warren JH (1990) Role of burrows as refuges from subtidal predators of temperate mangrove crabs. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 67:295-299.
Wilkinson DM (1999) The disturbing history of intermediate disturbance. Oikos, 84:145-147.
Wilson KA (1989) Ecology of mangrove crabs: predation, physical factors and refuges. Bulletin of Marine Science, 44:263-273.
Ya BP, Yeo DC, Todd PA (2008) Feeding ecology of two species of Perisesarma (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Sesarmidae) in Mandai mangroves, Singapore. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 28:480-484.
Yao AW, Chiang JM, McEwan R Lin TC (2015) The effect of typhoon‐related defoliation on the ecology of gap dynamics in a subtropical rain forest of Taiwan. Journal of vegetation science, 26:145-154.
Submitted date:
07/07/2017
Reviewed date:
12/13/2017
Accepted date:
12/13/2017