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Background and temperature effects on Uca panacea color change

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Abstract

Organismal coloration is used for communication, camouflage, and thermoregulation. These functions of body coloration may impose conflicting demands upon color-changing organisms. Here, we examined interacting thermoregulatory and camouflage color change responses when fiddler crabs Uca panacea were subject to simultaneously changing temperatures (10, 25, 40 °C) and backgrounds (black, white). Crab coloration lightened on a white background and at high temperatures and darkened on a black background and at low temperatures, reflecting the camouflage and thermoregulatory functions of color change. Synergistic background and temperature treatments (i.e., hot/white or cold/black) induced strong color change responses. When temperature and background were in conflict (i.e., hot/black or cold/white), responses to background coloration constrained thermoregulatory color change such that carapace coloration did not change. Such conflicts are likely to be common in nature, especially in highly heterogeneous environments. Throughout the experiment, males remained lighter than females and showed a greater response to the hot/white treatment, driven by a stronger response to high temperatures. These differences may reflect the physiological, morphological, and behavioral differences associated with sexual selection and sexual dimorphism in this species.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank K. Darnell for her assistance in collecting crabs. M. Buckley, P. Gravinese, R. Tankersley, and A. Wassick provided comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this manuscript. S.M.K. was supported by the NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates program.

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  1. Stephanie M. Kronstadt

    Present address: Biology Department, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL, 32901, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Science Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, 750 Channel View Dr., Port Aransas, TX, 78373, USA

    Stephanie M. Kronstadt, M. Zachary Darnell & Pablo Munguia

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  1. Stephanie M. Kronstadt
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  2. M. Zachary Darnell
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Correspondence to M. Zachary Darnell.

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Communicated by M. G. Chapman.

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Kronstadt, S.M., Darnell, M.Z. & Munguia, P. Background and temperature effects on Uca panacea color change. Mar Biol 160, 1373–1381 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-013-2189-5

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