Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The effect of salinity on survival, bioenergetics and predation risk in the mud crabs Panopeus simpsoni and Eurypanopeus depressus

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The effect of salinity on survival, bioenergetics and predation risk was studied in two common mud crabs in the Gulf of Mexico, Eurypanopeus depressus and Panopeus simpsoni. Eurypanopeus survived better at low salinities (the 28-day LC50 of E. depressus was 0.19 PSU compared with 6.97 PSU for P. simpsoni). While low salinity increased energy expenditure and reduced food consumption and absorption, resulting in lower scope for growth, identical responses to salinity occurred in both species. Both species also had similar salinity-dependent patterns of hyper-osmoregulation. Because these physiological mechanisms could not explain differences between the two species in salinity tolerance, we explored the effect of salinity on competition for refugia. Eurypanopeus had higher resource holding potential for refugia, especially at low salinity. As a consequence it had lower predation risk to blue crabs in laboratory experiments. The higher tolerance by E. depressus for low salinities, and greater resource holding potential for refugia may explain why it has a more euryhaline distribution than P. simpsoni.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barnes DKA (2002) Ecology of subtropical hermit crabs in SW Madagascar: refuge use and dynamic niche overlap. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 238:163–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayne BL, Newell RC (1983) Physiological energetics of marine molluscs. In: Saleuddin ASM, Wilbur KM (eds) The Mollusca, vol 4. Physiology (part 1). Academic, New York, pp 407–523

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck MW (1995) Size-specific shelter limitation in stone crab: a test of the demographic bottleneck hypothesis. Ecology 76:968–980

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertness MD (1981) Competitive dynamics of a tropical hermit crab assemblage. Ecology 62:751–761

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown KM, Keenan SF, Banks PD (2005) Dominance hierarchies in xanthid crabs: roles in resource-holding potential and field distributions. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 291:189–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charmantier G, Charmantier D (1991) Ontogeny of osmoregulation and salinity tolerance in Cancer irroratus; elements of comparison with C. borealis (Crustacea, Decapoda). Biol Bull 180:125–134

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Conover RJ (1966) Assimilation of organic matter by zooplankton. Limnol Oceanogr 11:338–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crisp DJ (1971) Energy flow measurement. In: Holmes NA, McIntyre AO (eds) Methods for the study of marine benthos. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp 197–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Davenport J (1972) Salinity tolerance and preference in the porcelain crabs, Porcellana platycheles and Porcellana longicornis. Mar Behav Physiol 1:123–138

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Daves ET (1974) Osmotic and ionic regulation in the estuarine mud crab Panopeus herbstii. Master’s thesis, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem

  • Dimock RV, Groves KH (1975) Interaction of temperature and salinity on oxygen consumption of the estuarine crab Panopeus herbstii. Mar Biol 33:301–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dingle H (1983) Strategies of agonistic behavior in Crustacea. In: Rebach S, Dunham D (eds) Studies in adaptation, the behavior of higher Crustacea. Wiley, New York, pp 85–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Eggleston DB, Lipcius R (1992) Shelter selection by spiny lobster under variable predation risk, social conditions and shelter size. Ecology 73:615–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliot JM, Davison W (1975) Energy equivalents of oxygen consumption in animal energetics. Oecologia 19:195–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Findley AM, Belisle BW, Stickle WB (1978) Effects of salinity fluctuations on the respiration rate of the southern oyster drill Thais haemastoma and the blue crab Callinectes sapidus. Mar Biol 49:59–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gherardi F, Nardone F (1997) The question of coexistence in hermit crabs: population ecology of a tropical intertidal assemblage. Crustaceana 70:608–629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs BR (1994) Experiments on shelter availability and interactions on juvenile stonecrabs, Menippe adina (Williams and Felder). Masters thesis, The University of South Alabama, Mobile

  • Grasshoff K, Johannsen H (1972) A new sensitive and direct method for the automatic determination of ammonia in sea water. J Cons Int Explor Mer 34:516–521

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guerin JL, Stickle WB (1992) Effects of salinity gradients on the tolerance and bioenergetics of juvenile blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) from waters of different environmental salinities. Mar Biol 114:391–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerin JL, Stickle WB (1997a) Effects of salinity gradients on the tolerance and bioenergetics of juvenile lesser blue crabs (Callinectes similis). Mar Biol 129:63–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerin JL, Stickle WB (1997b) A comparative study of two sympatric species within the genus Callinectes: effects of salinity on growth and moulting. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 218:165–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heck KL Jr, Coen LD (1995) Predation and the abundance of juvenile blue crabs: a comparison of selected east and Gulf coast (USA) studies. Bull Mar Sci 57:877–883

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins TS, Valentine JF, Lutz LB (1989) An illustrated guide with key to selected benthic invertebrate fauna of the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, Dauphin Island

  • Hulathduwa YD, Brown KM (2006) Relative importance of hydrocarbon pollutants, salinity and tidal height in colonization of oyster reefs. Mar Environ Res 62:301–314

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Knowlton RE, Shoen RH (1984) Salinity tolerance and sodium balance in the prawn Palaemonetes vulgaris (Say) compared with P. pugio. Comp Biochem Physiol 79A(4):519–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mangum CP, Silverthorn SU, Harris JL, Towle DW, Krall AR (1976) The relationship between the blood pH, ammonia excretion and adaptation to low salinity in the blue crab Callinectes sapidus. J Exp Zool 195:129–136

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mantel LH, Farmer LL (1983) Osmotic and ionic regulation. In: Mantel LH (ed) The biology of the Crustacea, vol 5. Internal anatomy and physiological regulation. Academic, New York, pp 53–161

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • May E (1974) The distribution of mud crabs (Xanthidae) in Alabama estuaries. Proc Nat Shellfish Assoc 64:33–37

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald J (1982) Divergent life history patterns in the co-occurring intertidal crabs Panopeus herbstii and Eurypanopeus depressus (Crustacea; Brachyura: Xanthidae). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 8:173–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer DL (1994) Habitat partitioning between the xanthid crabs Panopeus herbstii and Eurypanopeus depressus on inter tidal oyster reefs (Crassostrea virginica) in Southeastern North Carolina. Estuaries 17:674–679

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neter J, Wasserman W (1974) Applied linear statistical models. Richard D. Irwin Inc, Homeward

  • Sabourin TD (1984) The relationship between fluctuating salinity and oxygen delivery in adult blue crabs. Comp Biochem Physiol 78A:109–118

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute Inc (1988) SAS user’s guide: statistics. Version 9 SAS Institute Inc, Cary

  • Schlieper C (1971) Physiology of brackish water. In: Remane A, Schlieper C (eds) Biology of brackish water. Wiley Interscience, New York, pp 211–350

    Google Scholar 

  • Shervette VR, Perry HM, Rakocinski CF, Biesiot PM (2004) Factors influencing refuge occupation by stone crab Menippe adina juveniles in Mississippi sound. J Crust Biol 24(4):652–665

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shirley TC, Stickle WB (1982) Responses of Leptasterias hexactis (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) to low salinity. II. Nitrogen metabolism, respiration and energy budget Mar Biol 69:155–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shumway SE (1983) Oxygen consumption and salinity tolerance in four Brazilian crabs. Crustaceana 44(1):76–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry: the principles and practice of statistics in biological research. W.H. Freeman and Co, San Francisco

  • Solorzano L (1969) Determination of ammonia in natural waters by the phenol-hypochlorite method. Limnol Oceanogr 14:799–801

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stickle WB (1985) Effects of environmental factor gradients on scope for growth in several species of carnivorous marine invertebrates. In: Gray JS, Christiansen ME (eds) Marine biology of polar regions and effects of stress on marine organisms. Wiley, New York

  • Stickle WB, Bayne BL (1987) Energetics of the muricid gastropod Thais (Nucella) lapillus (L). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 107:263–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stuck KC, Perry HM (1992) Life history characteristics of Menippe adina in coastal Mississippi waters. Fla Mar Res Publ 50:82–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Turra A, Leite FPP (2002) Shell utilization patterns of a tropical intertidal hermit crab assemblage. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 82:97–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Wahle RA, Steneck RS (1991) Recruitment habitats and nursery grounds of the American lobster Homarus americanus: a demographic bottle neck? Mar Ecol Prog Ser 69:231–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wells HW (1961) The fauna of oyster beds, with special reference to the salinity factor. Ecol Monogr 31:239–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winberg CG (1960) Rate of metabolism and food requirements of fishes. Transl Ser Fish Res Board Can 194:202

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium Port Fourchon laboratory for providing logistical support, and Cecil Yapa, Jerry George and Barry Aronhime for help in collecting crabs. Andy Fisher in Dr James Cowan’s lab assisted with bomb calorimetry.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Yasoma D. Hulathduwa, William B. Stickle & Kenneth M. Brown

Authors
  1. Yasoma D. Hulathduwa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. William B. Stickle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kenneth M. Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenneth M. Brown.

Additional information

Communicated by P.W. Sammarco.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hulathduwa, Y.D., Stickle, W.B. & Brown, K.M. The effect of salinity on survival, bioenergetics and predation risk in the mud crabs Panopeus simpsoni and Eurypanopeus depressus . Mar Biol 152, 363–370 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0687-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0687-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation