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Behavioural responses of the Dungeness crab, Cancer magister, during feeding and digestion in hypoxic conditions

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Abstract

The Dungeness crab, Cancer magister, inhabits areas that are frequently subject to periods of hypoxia. This species can employ physiological mechanisms that allow it to cope with acute hypoxic episodes. When crabs feed there is a general increase in physiological variables; these may pose an additional physiological burden on crabs already attempting to maintain adequate oxygen uptake in hypoxia. In Barkley Sound, British Columbia, the inshore habitats of C. magister ranged in dissolved oxygen from 28 kPa at the water surface to less than 1.0 kPa just above the sediment–water interface. During short-term hypoxic events, crabs reduced both the amount of food eaten and the amount of time spent feeding. Crabs tended to cease feeding below 3.2 kPa oxygen, but resumed feeding when the dissolved oxygen tensions were rapidly raised to 6 kPa. In a high (10.5–21 kPa) oxygen gradient, both unfed and fed crabs showed no preference for any area of the gradient. In a low (2.5–10.5 kPa) dissolved oxygen gradient, both unfed and fed crabs preferred the highest oxygen regime. In the laboratory, crabs were less likely to enter hypoxic waters (below 3.2 kPa oxygen) to obtain and consume food; those that did moved the food to a higher oxygen regime prior to feeding and settled in higher oxygen regimes for digestion. Crab behaviour was also monitored in the field. Fed and unfed crabs were fitted with ultrasonic telemetry tags and tracked during a tidal cycle. Unfed crabs remained mobile, travelling up to 1,370 m within 6 h, while postprandial crabs settled in areas of high oxygen and moved very little during the first 48 h after release. The present study suggests that C. magister exhibits behavioural responses in order to minimise the use of physiological mechanisms, and maximise foraging and digestive processes. Thus the nutritional state of the individual may be important in regulating both its behaviour and distribution in its natural environment.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the director and staff of Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre for use of facilities. We also thank C. Cross, for statistical advice and P. Schulte for helpful comments while preparing the manuscript. This work was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation to IJM (IBN #0313765). All experiments were carried out at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre and complied with the Canadian Animal Use Protocol.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32653, USA

    Jennifer L. Bernatis

  2. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV, 89154, USA

    Shawn L. Gerstenberger

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Nevada, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV, 89154-4004, USA

    Iain J. McGaw

  4. Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, V0R 1B0, Bamfield, BC, Canada

    Iain J. McGaw

Authors
  1. Jennifer L. Bernatis
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  2. Shawn L. Gerstenberger
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  3. Iain J. McGaw
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Correspondence to Iain J. McGaw.

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Communicated by R.J. Thompson, St. John´s.

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Bernatis, J.L., Gerstenberger, S.L. & McGaw, I.J. Behavioural responses of the Dungeness crab, Cancer magister, during feeding and digestion in hypoxic conditions. Mar Biol 150, 941–951 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0392-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0392-3

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