alien crabs in the mediterranean sea

Complimentary Contributor Copy


FISH, FISHING AND FISHERIES

CRABS GLOBAL DIVERSITY, BEHAVIOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS

No part of this digital document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means. The publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this digital document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained herein. This digital document is sold with the clear understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, medical or any other professional services.


FISH, FISHING AND FISHERIES Additional books in this series can be found on Nova‘s website under the Series tab.

Additional e-books in this series can be found on Nova‘s website under the e-book tab.


FISH, FISHING AND FISHERIES

CRABS GLOBAL DIVERSITY, BEHAVIOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS

CLAUDE ARDOVINI EDITOR

New York


Copyright © 2014 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. For permission to use material from this book please contact us: Telephone 631-231-7269; Fax 631-231-8175 Web Site: http://www.novapublishers.com

NOTICE TO THE READER The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers‘ use of, or reliance upon, this material. Any parts of this book based on government reports are so indicated and copyright is claimed for those parts to the extent applicable to compilations of such works. Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS. Additional color graphics may be available in the e-book version of this book.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ISBN: (eBook)

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York


CONTENTS Preface

vii

Chapter 1

Shell Disease in Crabs Monique Mancuso

Chapter 2

Population Ecology of Mangrove Crabs in Brazil: Sesarmid and Fiddler Crabs Felipe Bezerra Ribeiro and Luis Ernesto Arruda Bezerra

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Behavioral Repertoire and Substrate Choice of the Freshwater Crab Dilocarcinus pagei Stimpson, 1861 (Decapoda, Trichodactylidae) Bruno Sampaio Sant’Anna, Dayane Rodrigues Andrade, Timóteo Tadashi Watanabe and Gustavo Yomar Hattori Intracohort Cannibalism of the Mud Crab, Scylla paramamosain, Megalopae: Mechanism, Dynamics and Adaptive Significance Xuelei Chen, Si Chen, Xueli Zhang and Guizhong Wang

Chapter 5

Biodiversity of Venezuelan Brachyuran Crabs Carlos Lira and Juan Bolaños

Chapter 6

Alien Crabs in the Mediterranean Sea: Current Status and Perspectives Dimitris Klaoudatos and Kostas Kapiris


1

19

57

75

91

101

vi Chapter 7

Contents Evolution of Mangrove Crabs Distribution in the Atlantic Coast of Cameroon Ndongo Din, Vanessa Maxemilie Ngo-Massou, Ernest Kottè-Mapoko, Marie Christine Essoh Mongo and Guillaume Léopold Essomè-Koum

Index

161

181


PREFACE Crustaceans, such as crabs, provide a high quality protein and omega 3 fatty acids that provide potential health benefits. Crabs have commercial importance worldwide constituting one of the main fishing resources. For this reason, in the last 30 years, Crab aquaculture has been identified as an emerging aquaculture sector with significant potential. In conjunction with the growth of these industries, there was an increase in the study of the diseases. This book discusses the diseases and factors that cause diseases in crabs. It also discusses population ecology of mangrove crabs in Brazil; behavioral repertoire and substrate choice of the freshwater crabs; intracohort cannibalism of the mud crab; biodiversity of Venezuelan brachyuran crabs; alien crabs in the Mediterranean Sea; and the evolution of mangrove crabs distribution in the Atlantic coast of Cameroon. Chapter 1 – Shell disease syndrome (SDS) is a term that describes a broad range of lesions on the exoskeleton of crustaceans supported by different species of chitinolytic opportunistic bacteria, belonging to different genera: Vibrio, Listonella, Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, Alteromonas, Flavobacterium, Spirillum, Moraxella and Photobacterium. The pathology is characterized by a progressive degradation of the crustacean cuticle with black spot lesions as a result of the melanisation as defense response triggered by cuticular damage. The infection is constituted from different stages that are characterized by a progressive destruction of the cuticle and the consequent tissue invasion by other opportunistic microbial pathogens. Pearson was the first to describe shell disease in Cancer pagurus; since then the syndrome has been reported in many species of crabs, both wild and farmed all over the world i.e.: Callinectes sapidus, Cancer magister, C. pagurus, C. irroratus, C. borealis, Carcinus aestuarii. In the past years the prevalence of the disease in natural populations


viii

Claude Ardovini

has increased and the lack of baseline data on its distribution in the Mediterranean area represents a limit toward a better understanding of this syndrome. Chapter 2 – Brachyuran crabs are the dominant faunal group in mangrove areas, in terms of both numbers and biomass. Mangroves, the most conspicuous coastal ecosystems in the tropics, extend along almost the entire coast of Brazil and are a very important region for communities of benthic crustaceans, including many species of crabs. Members of the crab families Ocypodidae and Sesarmidae dominate in Brazilian mangroves, while the families Grapsidae, Ucididae and Gecarcinidae are represented by fewer species. In Brazil, the family Ocypodidae is constituted mainly by fiddler crabs of the genus Uca; sesarmid crabs include the genera Aratus, Armases and Sesarma. This contribution gives an overview of aspects of the population ecology of mangrove crabs in Brazil, with an emphasis on the more speciose groups. Seasonal variations in population structure, modal progression in size distributions, density and abundance, sex ratio, recruitment, breeding period and fecundity rates are some of the aspects of the population ecology of brachyurans that have been studied along the Brazilian coast in recent years. Comparisons among populations will help to evaluate the differences between them, as well as to understand the environmental and biological constraints that produce these differences. Chapter 3 – Dilocarcinus pagei is a medium-sized species of freshwater crab that lives associated with macrophytes. Little is known of its ecology, including aspects such as activity periods and substrate selection. This study describes the behavior and activity periods for both sexes, of crabs obtained from a population in the Amazon basin. Thirty specimens of D. pagei were collected, with a mean size of 34.6 ± 4.8 mm for males and 35.5 ± 5.0 mm for females. The crabs were separated by sex and placed in three boxes, each containing 10 crabs (five females and five males), for observation to describe their behavior: feeding, reproduction, excavation, exploration of the environment, immobility, social interaction, agonistic interaction, selfgrooming, swimming and foaming. Although the crabs remained immobile during much of the experiment, both males and females were significantly more active during the night, and males were more active than females. Microhabitat choice differed significantly between the sexes (G = 54.88; DF = 3, P