Summary
Aggressive behavior may play a role in resource partitioning in two Eniwetok stomatopods Gonodactylus incipiens and Haptosquilla glyptocercus. These animals inhabit cavities in coral rubble which they defend vigorously. H. glyptocercus is the more aggressive species and is more than twice as abundant as G. incipiens in the habitat studied. The latter attains larger sizes and also occurs in habitats where H. glyptocercus is rare or absent. A third rarer species, G. falcatus, is also less aggressive than H. glyptocercus and is found in a different microhabitat.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bovbjerg, R. V.: Ecological isolation and competitive exclusion in crayfish (Orconectes virilis and Orconectes immunis). Ecology 51, 225–236 (1970).
Dingle, H.: A statistical and information analysis of aggressive communication in the mantis shrimp Gonodactylus bredini Manning (Crustacea: Stomatopoda). Anim. Behav. 17, 567–581 (1969).
Dingle, H.: Aggressive behavior in stomatopods and the use of information theory in the analysis of animal communication, p. 126–356. In: Winn, H. A., Olla, B. Eds., Behavior of marine animals—Current perspectives in research. New York: Plenum Press 1972.
Dingle, H., Caldwell, R. L.: The aggressive and territorial behavior of the mantis shrimp Gonodactylus bredini Manning (Crustacea: Stomatopoda). Behavior 33, 115–136 (1969).
Dingle, H., Caldwell, R. L.: Reproductive and maternal behavior of the mantis shrimp Gonodactylus bredini Manning (Crustacea: Stomatopoda). Biol. Bull. 142, 417–426 (1972).
Grant, P. R.: Experimental studies of competitive interaction in a two-species system II. The behaviour of Microtus, Peromyscus, and Clethrionomys species. Anim. Behav. 18, 411–426 (1970).
Hazlett, B. A.: Factors affecting the aggressive behavior of the hermit crab Calcinus tibicen. Z. Tierpsychol. 23, 655–671 (1966).
Hazlett, B. A.: Interspecific shell fighting in three sympatic species of hermit crabs in Hawaii. Pacific Sci. 24, 472–482 (1970).
Hiatt, R. W., Strasburg, D. W.: Ecological relationships of the fish fauna on coral reefs of the Marshall Islands. Ecol. Monogr. 30, 63–127 (1960).
Kinzie, R. A.: The ecology of the replacement of Pseudosquilla ciliata (Fabricius) by Gonodactylus falcatus (Forskal) (Crustacea; Stomatopoda) recently introduced into the Hawaiian Islands. Pacific Sci. 22, 465–475 (1968).
Low, R. M.: Interspecific territoriality in a pomacentrid reef fish, Pomacentrus flavicauda Whitley. Ecology 52, 648–654 (1971).
MacArthur, R. H.: Geographical ecology. New York: Harper and Row 1972.
Manning, R. B.: Notes on the Gonodactylus section of the family Gonodactylidae (Crustacea, Stomatopoda), with descriptions of four new genera and a new species. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 82, 143–166 (1969).
Manning, R. B.: Two new species of Gonodactylus (Crustacea, Stomatopoda), from Eniwetok Atoll, Pacific Ocean. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 84, 73–80 (1971).
Miller, R. B.: Pattern and process in competition. Adv. Ecol. Res. J. B. Cragg, Ed., 4, 1–74 (1067).
Orians, G. H., Willson, M. F.: Interspecific territories of birds. Ecology 45, 736–745 (1964).
Paine, R. T.: Food web complexity and species diversity. Amer. Naturalist 100, 65–75 (1966).
Paine, R. T.: A short-term experimental investigation of resource partitioning in a New Zealand rocky intertidal habitat. Ecology 52, 1096–1106 (1971).
Parrish, J. D., Saila, S. B.: Interspecific competition, predation and species diversity. J. theor. Biol. 27, 207–220 (1970).
Reaka, M. L.: Behavior of the mantis shrimp, Gonodactylus zacae, from populations in isolation and in sympatry with congeners. Amer. Zool. 12, 647 (Abstract) (1972).
Serène, R.: Observations biologiques sur les stomatopodes. Ann. Inst. oceanogr. Monaco 29, 1–93 (1954).
Slobodkin, L. B.: Experimental populations of Hydrida. J. Anim. Ecol. 23 (Suppl.), 131–148 (1964).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dingle, H., Highsmith, R.C. & Caldwell, R.L. Interspecific aggressive behavior in tropical reef stomatopods and its possible ecological significance. Oecologia 13, 55–64 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379618
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379618