Reversal of handedness, growth, and claw stridulatory patterns in the stone crab Menippe mercenaria (Say) (Crustacea: Xanthidae)
Simonson, J.L. (1985). Reversal of handedness, growth, and claw stridulatory patterns in the stone crab Menippe mercenaria (Say) (Crustacea: Xanthidae). J. Crust. Biol. 5(2): 281-293. https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1547875
In: Journal of Crustacean Biology. Crustacean Society: Washington. ISSN 0278-0372; e-ISSN 1937-240X, meer
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| Trefwoorden |
Animal appendages
Biological phenomena > Regeneration
Population functions > Growth
Crustacea [WoRMS]; Menippe mercenaria (Say, 1818) [WoRMS]; Xanthidae MacLeay, 1838 [WoRMS]
Marien/Kust |
| Abstract |
All 103 stone crabs reared from eggs of one left-handed and two right-handed female crabs were initially right-handed (side bearing crusher claw), but 88% of laboratory-reared juveniles whose crushers were removed reversed handedness on the first regenerative molt. Eight of 12 (67%) feral adult or pre-adult crabs reversed handedness on third on fourth molt following crusher loss, but only 5% (1 of 19) and 6% (1 of 16) reversed on the first and second molts, respectively. Reversal of handedness following claw loss by young juveniles is the most likely cause of the change from 100% initial right-handedness to 80% among older juveniles and sublegal (carapace width < 80 mm) adults in natural populations. The ratio is not altered in fished populations, probably because natural death occurs before most legal crabs can complete the number of molts (3 or more) required for adult claw reversal. |
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