Abstract
In experimental conditions, the level of predation by the paddle crabs Ovalipes catharus (White, 1843) on the intertidal bivalve Paphies ventricosa (Gray, 1843) of 30 to 40 mm shell length, was investigated as a function of depth and density of bivalve burial. Bivalves and crabs were collected from the west coast of New Zealand between November 1984 and February 1985. The predation level declined in a linear fashion with increasing depth: the number of P. ventricosa eaten was 70.67–1.33x(depth available for burial in cm), between 0 and 26 cm depth. At three bivalve densities, 500, 1 253, and 2 000 m-2, while the actual numbers eaten from each density were equal, the proportion eaten declined in a non-linear fashion with increasing density. The density of P. ventricosa had, in effect, a negative density-dependent influence on the level of predation by O. catharus. Therefore, both depth and density can act as refuges from predation.
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Communicated by G. F. Humphrey, Sydney
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Haddon, M., Wear, R.G. & Packer, H.A. Depth and density of burial by the bivalve Paphies ventricosa as refuges from predation by the crab Ovalipes catharus . Mar. Biol. 94, 25–30 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00392896
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00392896