Abstract
On Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, the diet of robber crabs, Birgus latro (Linnaeus) was generally high in fat, storage polysaccharides or protein and largely comprised fruits, seeds, nuts and animal material. The plant items also contained significant amounts of hemicellulose and cellulose. In laboratory feeding trials, crabs had similar intakes of dry matter when fed artificial diets high in either fat or storage polysaccharide, but intake was lower on a high protein diet. Assimilation coefficients of dry matter (69–74%), carbon (72–81%), nitrogen (76–100%), lipid (71–96%) and storage polysaccharide (89–99%) were high on all three diets. B. latro also assimilated significant amounts of the chitin ingested in the high protein diet ( 93%) and hemicellulose (49.6–65%) and cellulose (16–53%) from the high carbohydrate and high fat diets. This is consistent with the presence of chitinase, hemicellulase and cellulase enzymes in the digestive tract of B. latro. The mean retention time (27.2 h) for a dietary particle marker (57Co-labelled microspheres) was longer than measured in leaf-eating land crabs. The feeding strategy of B. latro involves the selection of highly digestible and nutrient-rich plant and animal material and retention of the digesta for a period long enough to allow extensive exploitation of storage carbohydrates, lipids, protein and significant amounts of structural carbohydrates (hemicellulose, cellulose and chitin).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexander HGL (1979) A preliminary assessment of the role of the terrestrial decapod crustaceans in the Aldabran ecosystem. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B 286:241–246
Barnes DKA (1997) Ecology of tropical hermit crabs at Quirimba Island, Mozambique: a novel and locally important food source. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 161:299–302
Byrne KA, Lehnert SA, Johnson SE, Moore SS (1999) Isolation of a cDNA encoding a putative cellulase in the red claw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus. Gene 239:317–324
Dall W, Moriarty DJW (1983) Functional aspects of nutrition and digestion. In: Mantel LH (ed) The biology of Crustacea, vol 5. Internal anatomy and physiology. Academic Press, New York, pp 215–261
De Wilde PAWJ (1973) On the ecology of Coenobita clypeatus in Curaçao with reference to reproduction, water economy and osmoregulation in terrestrial hermit crabs. Studies on the fauna of Curaçao and other Carribean islands, vol 144. Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, pp 1–138
Dillaman RM, Greenaway P, Linton SM (1999) Role of the midgut gland in purine excretion in the robber crab, Birgus latro (Anomura: Coenobitidae). J Morphol 241:227–235
Gibson R, Barker PL (1979) The decapod hepatopancreas. Oceanogr Mar Biol Annu Rev 17:285–346
Giddins RL, Lucas JS, Neilson M J, Richards GN (1986) Feeding ecology of the mangrove crab Neosarmatium smithi (Crustacea: Decapoda: Sesarmidae). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 33:147–155
Greenaway P (2001) Sodium and water balance in free-ranging robber crabs, Birgus latro (Anomura: Coenobitidae). J Crust Biol 21:317–327
Greenaway P (2003) Terrestrial adaptations in the Anomura (Crustacea: Decapoda). Mem Mus Vic 60:13–26
Greenaway P, Linton SM (1995) Dietary assimilation and food retention time in the herbivorous terrestrial crab Gecarcoidea natalis. Physiol Zool 68:1006–1028
Greenaway P, Morris S (1989) Adaptations to a terrestrial existence by the Robber Crab, Birgus latro. III. Nitrogenous excretion. J Exp Biol 143:333–346
Greenaway P, Raghaven S (1998) Digestive strategies in two species of leaf-eating land crabs (Brachyura: Gecarcinidae) in a rain forest. Physiol Zool 71:36–44
Grubb P (1971) Ecology of terrestrial decapod crustaceans on Aldabra. Philos Trans R Soc Lond 260:411–416
Hames CAC, Hopkin SP (1989) The structure and function of the digestive system of terrestrial isopods. J Zool Lond 217:599–627
Hartnoll RG (1988) Evolution, systematics and geographical distribution. In: Burggren WW, McMahon BR (eds) Biology of the land crabs. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 6–53
Hicks J, Rumpff H, Yorkston H. (1990) Christmas crabs, 2nd edn. Christmas Island Natural History Association, Christmas Island, Indian Ocean
Hornung DE, Stevenson JR (1971) Changes in the rate of chitin synthesis during the crayfish molting cycle. Comp Biochem Physiol B 40: 341–346
Icely J, Nott J (1992) Digestion and absorption: Digestive system and associated organs. In: Harrison F, Humes AG (eds) Microscopic anatomy of invertebrates, vol 10. Wiley-Liss, New York, pp 147–201
Kono M, Matsui T, Shimizu C, Koga D (1990) Purification and some properties of chitinase from the liver of a prawn, Penaus japonicus. Agric Biol Chem 54:2145–2147
Lawrence JM (1970).Lipid content of the organs of the coconut crab, Birgus latro (L.) (Decapoda: Paguridea). Crustaceana 19:264–266
Linton SM, Greenaway P (1997) Urate deposits in the gecarcinid land crab Gecarcoidea natalis are synthesised de novo from excess dietary nitrogen. J Exp Biol 200:2347–2354
Linton SM, Greenaway P (2000) The nitrogen requirements and dietary nitrogen utilization for the gecarcinid land crab Gecarcoidea natalis. Physiol Biochem Zool 73:209–218
Peters W (1991) Peritrophic membranes. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Robertson JB, Van Soest PJ (1982) The detergent system of analysis and its application to human foods. In: James WPT, Theander O (eds) The analysis of dietary fiber in food. Dekker, New York, pp 123–158
Russell-Hunter WD (1970) Aquatic productivity: an introduction to some basic aspects of biological oceanography and limnology. Collier MacMillan, London
Sherman PM (2002) Effects of land crabs on seedling densities and distributions in mainland neotropical rain forest. J Trop Ecol 18:67–89
Simpson SJ, Abisgold JD (1985) Compensation by locusts for changes in dietary nutrients: behavioural mechanisms. Physiol Entomol 10:443–452
Sukardi P (1994) Digestive physiology of the mud crab Scylla serrata Forskål. PhD Diss, The University of NSW, Sydney. Australia
Warner ACI (1981). The mean retention times of digesta markers in the gut of the tammar, Macropus eugenii. Aust J Zool 29:759–771
Wolcott DL, O’Connor NJ (1992) Herbivory in crabs: adaptations and ecological considerations. Am Zool 32:370-381
Wolcott DL, Wolcott TG (1984) Food quality and cannibalism in the red land crab, Gecarcinus lateralis. Physiol Zool 57:318–324
Wolcott DL, Wolcott TG (1987) Nitrogen limitation in the herbivorous land crab Cardisoma guanhumi. Physiol Zool 60:262–268
Xue XM, Anderson AJ, Richardson NA, Anderson AJ, Xue GP, Mather PB (1999) Characterisation of cellulase activity in the digestive system of the redclaw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus). Aquaculture 180:373–386
Zimmer M, Topp W (1998) Microorganisms and cellulose digestion in the gut of the woodlouse Porcellio scaber. J Chem Ecol 24:1397-1408
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Dr. F. Stoddard at the Department of Crop Sciences, Sydney University, for use of the Leco CHN analyser. This work was supported by an Australian Research Council grant 942611 (P.G.). All experiments complied with Australian and NSW animal ethics legislation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by I.D. Hume
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wilde, J.E., Linton, S.M. & Greenaway, P. Dietary assimilation and the digestive strategy of the omnivorous anomuran land crab Birgus latro (Coenobitidae). J Comp Physiol B 174, 299–308 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-004-0415-7
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-004-0415-7