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1 March 2012 Sediment Bioturbation Potential of Uca rapax and Uca uruguayensis as a Result of their Feeding Activity
Bruno Sayão-Aguiar, Marcelo Antonio Amaro Pinheiro, Karine Develati Colpo
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Abstract

Bioturbation of mangrove sediments by Uca uruguayensis (Nobili, 1901) and U. rapax (Smith, 1870) was compared based on the grain-size composition and organic content in surface sediment around the burrow and feeding pellets in two mangrove zones of the São Vicente Estuary, state of São Paulo, Brazil. For each species, 25 burrows with active crabs were selected. All pellets within a 15-cm radius of each burrow were carefully collected; samples of substrate were taken; and the crab occupant was excavated, sexed, and measured for carapace width (CW). The number of spoon-tipped setae on the second maxilliped of each species was estimated; U. uruguayensis showed more of these setae than U. rapax. For both species, the sediment post-processed by feeding activity (feeding pellets) showed a similar increase of coarser fractions and a smaller organic content. However, U. uruguayensis was more efficient in removing organic matter (88.1%) from the sediment than U. rapax (37.5%). These results suggest that different numbers of spoon-tipped setae on the second maxillipeds of the fiddler crabs do not affect the potential for grain-size selection, but result in differing abilities to remove organic matter from the sediment.

© The Crustacean Society, 2012.
Bruno Sayão-Aguiar, Marcelo Antonio Amaro Pinheiro, and Karine Develati Colpo "Sediment Bioturbation Potential of Uca rapax and Uca uruguayensis as a Result of their Feeding Activity," Journal of Crustacean Biology 32(2), 223-229, (1 March 2012). https://doi.org/10.1163/193724011X615451
Received: 19 April 2011; Accepted: 1 August 2011; Published: 1 March 2012
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KEYWORDS
feeding pellets
mangrove
sediment particle size
spoon-tipped setae
Uca
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