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Number of ghost crab burrows does not correspond to population size

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Central European Journal of Biology

Abstract

Ghost crabs are distributed worldwide on sandy beaches, and several studies have associated the number of ghost crab burrows with the levels of anthropogenic impacts on the beaches under study. However, our results show that the use of ghost crab Ocypode quadrata burrows to assess levels of anthropogenic impacts on sand beaches may not be accurate, as previously thought, because the number of burrows does not represent an estimate of the population size. In addition, we propose three hypotheses to explain the extremely low number of individuals/number of burrows ratio: the “secret chamber”, the “multiple openings”, and the “one crab, several burrows” hypotheses. We also observed an unusual sex ratio.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Integrated Laboratories of Marine and Natural Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, 57051-090, Maceió-AL, Brazil

    Willian T. A. F. Silva & Tereza C. S. Calado

  2. Institute of Evolutionary Sciences of Montpellier, Group of Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of Montpellier 2, 34095, Montpellier, France

    Willian T. A. F. Silva

Authors
  1. Willian T. A. F. Silva
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  2. Tereza C. S. Calado
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Correspondence to Willian T. A. F. Silva.

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Silva, W.T.A.F., Calado, T.C.S. Number of ghost crab burrows does not correspond to population size. cent.eur.j.biol. 8, 843–847 (2013). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-013-0208-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-013-0208-7

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