Abstract
The nemertean Carcinonemertes errans is an important predator on the eggs of its host, the Dungeness crab Cancer magister. Each nemertean consumes an average of approximately 70 crab eggs during the host brooding period. The nemerteans, which apparently consume no other food during the host brooding period, convert crab egg tissue to worm tissue with an efficiency of 28.9% on a caloric basis. Epidemic levels of Carcinonemertes errans on the central California Dungeness crab population have resulted in the direct mortality of an average of 55% of the eggs produced by that population over the last 5 years, making C. errans probably the most numerically significant predator on these crabs.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Botsford, L.W. and D.E. Wickham: Behavior of age-specific, density-dependent models and the northern California Dungeness crab (Cancer magister) fishery. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 35, 833–843 (1978)
Coe, W.R.: The nemertean parasites of crabs. Am. Nat. 36, 431–450 (1902)
Fisher, W.S.: Relationships of epibiotic fouling and mortalities of eggs of the Dungeness crab (Cancer magister). J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 33, 2849–2853 (1976)
— and D.E. Wickham: Mortalities and epibiotic fouling of eggs from wild populations of the Dungeness crab, Cancer magister. Fish. Bull. U.S. 74, 201–207 (1976)
Humes, A.G.: The morphology, taxonomy and bionomics of the nemertean genus Carcinonemertes Illinois biol. Monogr. 18, 1–105 (1942)
Kuris, A.M.: Population interactions between a shore crab and two symbionts, 431 pp. Ph. D. thesis, Berkeley: University of California 1971
—: Life cycle distribution and abundance of Carcinonemertes epialti, a nemertean egg predator of the shore crab, Hemigrapsus oregonensis, in relation to host size, reproduction, and molt cycle. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 154, 121–137 (1978)
Orians, G. and D. Janzen: Why are embryos so tasty? Am. Nat. 108, 581–592 (1974)
Roe, P.: Aspects of development and occurrence of Carcinonemertes epialti (Nemertea) from shore crabs in Monterey Bay, California. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 156, 130–140 (1979)
Roger-Talbert, R.: The fungus Lagenidium callinectes Couch (1947) on eggs of the blue crab in Chesapeake Bay. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 94, 214–228 (1948)
Rose, S.M.: A feedback mechanism of growth control in tadpoles. Ecology 41, 188–199 (1960)
Sindermann, C.J.: Disease diagnosis and control in North American aquaculture, 329 pp. New York: Elsevier 1977
Subramoniam, T.: Some aspects of reproductive ecology of a mole crab Emerita asiatica Milne Edwards. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 36, 259–268 (1979)
Wickham, D.E.: A new species of Carcinonemertes (Nemertea: Carcinonemertidae) with notes on the genus from the Pacific Coast. Proc. biol. Soc. Wash. 91, 197–202 (1978)
Wickham, D.E. The crab-egg predator, Carcinonemertes errans, and cycling and collapse of Dungeness crab population, 90 pp. Ph.D. thesis, Berkeley: University of California 1979
Wickham, D.E. Carcinonemertes errans and epibiotic fouling of Dungeness crab eggs. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. (in press)
Wickham, D.E. and L.W. Botsford: Multiple equilibria in the interaction between Carcinonemertes errans and its host, the Dungeness crab. (In preparation)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by N.D. Holland, La Jolla
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wickham, D.E. Predation by the nemertean Carcinonemertes errans on eggs of the Dungeness crab Cancer magister . Mar. Biol. 55, 45–53 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391716
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391716