Abstract
Heart rate of Carcinus maenas was recorded continuously for two days in situ, together with water temperature, salinity, depth and light intensity. Of each sex, 25 crabs were used and assigned to groups on the basis of size and colour (the carapace changes colour with prolongation of the intermoult phase). Wet weight:dry weight ratios of midgut gland, muscle, gonads and whole body were examined together with midgut gland lipid content and haemolymph protein concentration. Heart rates and wet wt:dry wt ratios for all the tissues examined were higher in early intermoult than in late intermoult stages of the adult C. maenas (P<0.05). Heart rate, lipid content and haemolymph protein concentrations were higher and wet wt:dry wt ratios of midgut gland, gonads and whole body were lower in juvenile crabs than in adults (P<0.05). The relationship between heart rate and wet wt:dry wt of whole body differed among C. maenas in early and late intermoutl. Heart rate was positively correlated with midgut gland lipid content (a Darwinian fitness parameter) in crabs that were in late intermoult. Physico-chemical environmental parameters, sex and colour accounted for 12% of the variation in heart rate of C. maenas recorded in situ. Temperature and prolonged intermoult were the most important factors influencing heart rate. The findings are discussed in relation to laboratory studies of cardiac activity and observed behaviour of C. maenas in the field.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aagaard A, Andersen BB, Depledge MH (1991) Simultaneous monitoring of physiological and behavioural activity in marine organisms using non-invasive, computer-aided techniques. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 73:277–282
Aagaard A, Depledge MH (1993) Inter-individual variability in the responses of Carcinus maenas to copper exposure. In: Aldrich AC (ed) Proc 27th Eur Mar Biol Symp 1992, Dublin, Ireland. Japaga, Dublin, pp 275–280
Aagaard A, Warman CG, Depledge MH (1995a) Tidal and seasonal changes in the temporal and spatial distribution of foraging Carcinus maenas in the weakly tidal littoral zone of Kerteminde Fjord, Denmark. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 122:165–172
Aagaard A, Warman CG, Depledge MH, Naylor E (1995b) Dissociation of heart rate and locomotor activity during the expression of rhythmic behaviour in the shore crab Carcinus maenas. Mar Behav Physiol 26:1–10
Ahsanullah M, Newell RC (1971) Factors affecting the heart rate of the shore crab Carcinus maenas (L.). Comp Biochem Physiol 39A:277–287
Aldrich JC (1986) The influences of individual variations in metabolic rate and tidal conditions on the response to hypoxia in Carcinus maenas (L.). Comp Biochem Physiol 83A:53–60
Ansell AD (1973) Changes in oxygen consumption, heart rate and ventilation accompanying starvation in the decapod crustacean, Cancer pagurus. Neth J Sea Res 7:455–475
Bergmeyer HU (1974) Methods of enzymatic analysis. Vol. I. Verlag Chemie/Academic Press, London, pp 174–176
Bjerregaard P (1991) Relationship between physiological condition and cadmium accumulation in Carcinus maenas (L.). Comp Biochem Physiol 99A:75–83
Bligh EG, Dyer WJ (1959) A rapid method of total lipid extraction and purification. Can J Biochem Physiol 37(8):911–917
Crothers JH (1968) The biology of the shore crab Carcinus maenas (L.). 2. The life of the adult crab. Fld Stud 2(5):579–614
Cumberlidge N, Uglow RF (1977) Heart rate and scaphognathite activity in the shore crab Carcinus maenas (L.). J exp mar Biol Ecol 28:87–107
Depledge MH (1978) Cardiac activity of the shore crab, Carcinus maenas (L.). Comp Biochem Physiol 60A:65–67
Depledge MH (1985) The influence of nutritional state on the circulatory and respiratory physiology of the shore crab, Carcinus maenas (L.). J mar Biol Ass UK 65:69–78
Depledge MH (1992) On the tidal, diurnal and seasonal modulation of endogenous cardiac activity rhythms in the shore crab (Carcinus maenas L.). Oebalia (Taranto, Italy) 18:53–67
Depledge MH (1993) The rational basis for the use of biomarkers as ecotoxicological tools. In: Fossi MC, Leonzio C (eds) Nondestructive biomarkers in higher vertebrates. Lewis, Boca Raton, Fla. pp 261–285
Depledge MH, Andersen BB (1990) A computer-aided physiological monitoring system for continuous, long-term recording of cardiac activity in selected invertebrates. Comp Biochem Physiol 96A:473–477
Depledge MH, Lundebye AK (1996) Physiological monitoring of pollutant effects in individual rock crabs, Hemigrapsus edwardsi: the ecotoxicological significance of variability in response. Comp Biochem Physiol (in press)
Grober MS (1990) Luminescent flash avoidance in the nocturnal crab Portunus xantusii. I. The effect of luminescence and mechanical stimulation on heart rate. J exp Biol 148:415–426
Györkös P (1994) The use of haemolymph parameters in Carcinus maenas (L.) as biomarkers of heavy metal induced stress. MSc Thesis, Odense University Press, Denmark
Hamilton NM, Houlihan DF (1992) Respiratory and circulatory adjustments during aquatic treadmill exercise in the European shore crab Carcinus maenas. J exp Biol 162:37–54
Hunter E, Naylor E (1993) Intertidal migration by the shore crab Carcinus maenas. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 101:131–138
Kaiser MJ, Hughes RN, Reid DG (1990) Chelal morphometry, prey-size selection and aggressive competition in green and red forms of Carcinus maenas (L.). J exp mar Biol Ecol 140:121–134
McGaw IJ, Kaiser MJ, Naylor E, Hughes RN (1992) Intraspecific morphological variation related to the moult-cycle in colour forms of the shore crab Carcinus maenas. J Zool, Lond 228: 351–359
McGaw IJ, Naylor E (1992a) Distribution and rhythmic locomotor patterns of estuarine and open-shore populations of Carcinus maenas. J mar biol Ass UK 72:599–609
McGaw IJ, Naylor E (1992b) Salinity preference of the shore crab Carcinus maenas in relation to coloration during intermoult and to prior acclimation. J exp mar Biol Ecol 155:145–159
Morris S, Taylor AC (1983) Diurnal and seasonal variation in physico-chemical conditions within intertidal rock pools. Estuar cstl Shelf Sci 17:339–355
Naylor E, Atkinson RJA (1972) Pressure and the rhythmic behaviour of inshore marine animals. Symp Soc exp Biol 26: 395–415
Reid DG, Abelló P, McGaw IJ, Naylor E (1989) Phenotypic variation in sympatric crab populations. In: Aldrich JC (ed) Phenotypic responses and individuality in aquatic ectotherms. Japaga, Dublin, pp 89–96
Reid DG, Abelló P, Warman CG, Naylor E (1994) Size-related mating success in the shore crab Carcinus maenas (Crustacea: Brachyura). J Zool, Lond 232:397–407
Reid DG, Aldrich JC (1989) Variation in response to environmental hypoxia of different colour forms of the shore crab Carcinus maenas (L.). Comp Biochem Physiol 92A:535–539
Taylor AC (1977) The respiratory responses of Carcinus maenas to declining oxygen tension. J exp Biol 65:309–322
Taylor AC (1977) The respiratory responses of Carcinus maenas (L.) to changes in environmental salinity. J exp mar Biol Ecol 29: 197–210
Taylor AC (1988) The ecophysiology of decapods in the rock pool environment. Symp zool Soc Lond 59:227–261
Trendall JT, Prescott J (1989) Severe physiological stress associated with the annual breeding emigration of Panulirus ornatus in the Torres Strait. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 58:29–39
Warman CG, Reid DG, Naylor E (1993) Variation in the tidal migratory behaviour and rhythmic light-responsiveness in the shore crab, Carcinus maenas. J mar biol Ass UK 73:355–364
Wilkens JL, Mercier AJ (1993) Peptidergic modulation of cardiac performance in isolated hearts from the shore crab Carcinus maenas. Physiol Zoöl 66(2):237–256
Zar JH (1984) Biostatistical analysis. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by L. Hagerman, Helsingør
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Aagaard, A. In situ variation in heart rate of the shore crab Carcinus maenas in relation to environmental factors and physiological condition. Marine Biology 125, 765–772 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00349259
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00349259