Summary
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1.
Hermit crabs (Pagurus samuelis) were held in groups and also in isolation in aquaria simulating their natural surroundings. Group-held crabs were matched against one another in a small arena to provide base-line data. Then group-held hermit crabs were matched against crabs held in isolation for 3, 8, 12, or 30 days. Individual components of behavior were quantified in terms of total seconds involved in that behavior, mean duration of each component, its frequency of occurrence, and the proportion of tests having at least one occurrence. Also noted were the latency of initiation of aggression, who initiated, who dominated, and the decisiveness of outcome.
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2.
Aggressive actions of low rank (Series 1) were relatively unaffected by isolation. High ranking actions (Series 2), mostly those of actual combat, increased with isolation; and the higher the rank the longer was the delay to the onset of the increase.
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3.
Dominance, decisiveness, and initiation were all hightened by isolation, but latency was unchanged.
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4.
Locomotory behavior decreased during isolation.
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5.
Fear behavior decreased at first, but then rose above the base-line level with further isolation.
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We are grateful to Roy Caldwell, Gail Courchesne, and Rachel Courchesne for their comments on the manuscript. The writing and part of the research were supported by grants to G. W. B. from the National Science Foundation (GB 6604, GB 13426).
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Courchesne, E., Barlow, G.W. Effect of isolation on components of aggressive and other behavior in the hermit crab, Pagurus samuelis . Z. vergl. Physiologie 75, 32–48 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00335136
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00335136