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Ontogenetic habitat shift in Pugettia quadridens on the coast of Sagami Bay, Japan

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  • Coastal Ecosystem Complex (CEC)
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Abstract

Population dynamics of the kelp crab Pugettia quadridens, a potential predator of juvenile abalone, were investigated on the coast of Nagai, Sagami Bay, to examine its cryptic ontogenetic habitat shift. Monthly quantitative sampling over 2 years, which was carried out in 11 different subtidal habitats (< 0.1–8 m deep), revealed that P. quadridens changes ontogenetically according to its habitat: P. quadridens occurred in shallow lower subtidal (1–4 m) small red algal turfs (mainly Grateoloupia cornea) almost all year around, when the population was dominated by juveniles and stage I (immature) individuals; on the other hand, in the shallow upper subtidal (0.1–1 m) habitat (mainly Sargassum fusiforme beds near the low tidal mark), P. quadridens occurred only during winter to early spring, when the population was dominated by individuals of senior ontogenetic stages. These finding suggest that P. quadridens inhabit subtidal small red algal turfs during their early benthic phase, and then, the majority of larger individuals of stages II and III migrate to Sargassum beds. Our results suggest that the impact of P. quadridens predation on abalone stocks is limited in the present study site, primarily because the habitat of P. quadridens is segregated from that of juvenile abalone.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Captain Yoshikazu Kajigaya and other staff of the Yokosuka Laboratory, National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, for their kind help in carrying out the monthly surveys on the coast of Nagai. The first author deeply thanks Shouji Houki (AORI) for helping to survey the upper subtidal zones at Nagai, Miura Peninsula, and Shigeyuki Yamato (Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, Kyoto University) and for supporting sampling at Shirahama, Kii Peninsula. Special thanks go to Karen van Dorp (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) who sent the photographs of type specimens of Pisa (Menaethius) quadridens to the first author, and to Michiko Sato (Osaka Museum of Natural History) who kindly allowed us to use her movies. Many thanks also go to two anonymous reviewers. This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to T. Kawamura (no. 20380108), and the Coastal Ecosystem Complex Project of the Ocean Resources Use Promotion Technology Development Program, of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Japan.

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  1. Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, 277-0882, Chiba, Japan

    Naoya Ohtsuchi, Tomohiko Kawamura, Jun Hayakawa & Yoshiro Watanabe

  2. Yokosuka Station, National Research Institute of Aquaculture, Nagai, Yokosuka, 238-0316, Kanagawa, Japan

    Hiroaki Kurogi

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  1. Naoya Ohtsuchi
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Correspondence to Naoya Ohtsuchi.

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This article is sponsored by the Coastal Ecosystem Complex Project of the Ocean Resource Use Promotion Technology Development Program, of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

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Ohtsuchi, N., Kawamura, T., Hayakawa, J. et al. Ontogenetic habitat shift in Pugettia quadridens on the coast of Sagami Bay, Japan. Fish Sci 84, 211–225 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-017-1171-4

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