Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Feeding ecology of the mangrove crab Ucides cordatus (Ocypodidae): food choice, food quality and assimilation efficiency

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Food preferences, consumption rates and dietary assimilation related to food quality were investigated for the large semi-terrestrial and litter-consuming mangrove crab Ucides cordatus cordatus (Ocypodidae, L. 1763) in northern Brazil. Stomach contents were composed of mangrove leaves (61.2%), unidentified plant material and detritus (28.0%), roots (4.9%), sediment (3.3%), bark (2.5%), and animal material (0.1%). U. cordatus prefers Rhizophora mangle over Avicennia germinans leaves despite a higher nitrogen content, lower carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio and lower tannin content of the latter. Also, assimilation rates for senescent R. mangle leaves (C: 79.3%, N: 45.4%) were higher than for A. germinans leaves (C: 40.6%, N: 9.1%). Faeces composition indicates that A. germinans leaves were more difficult to masticate and digest mechanically. The leaf-ageing hypothesis, according to which crabs let leaves age in burrows to gain a more palatable and nutritive food, was rejected for U. cordatus since N content, C/N ratio and the abundance of microorganisms did not differ significantly between senescent leaves and leaves taken from burrows. The low microbial biomass on leaf surfaces and in the sediment indicates its minor importance for the nutrition of U. cordatus. It is concluded that high ingestion and assimilation rates of a R. mangle diet together with the consumption of algae allow for a high intake of C, N, and energy. The data suggest that the digestibility of mangrove leaves by U. cordatus is not hampered by tannins. This may have provided a competitive advantage over other leaf-consuming invertebrates unable to digest mangrove litter with high tannin concentrations. Due to the large stock biomass of U. cordatus in the study area, a great amount of finely fragmented faeces is produced (about 7.1 ton dry matter ha−1 year−1 in a R. mangle forest) which is enriched in C, N and bacterial biomass compared to the sediment. The decomposition of mangrove litter, and thus nutrient and energy transfer into the sediment, is greatly enhanced due to litter processing by U. cordatus.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alcantara-Filho P (1978) Contribução ao estudo da biologia e ecologia do caranguejo-uçá, Ucides cordatus cordatus (Linnaeus, 1763) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura), no manguezal do Rio Ceará (Brasil). Arquivos de ciencias do mar 18:1–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen SE (1989) Chemical analysis of ecological materials. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 368

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashton EC (2002) Mangrove sesarmid crab feeding experiments in Peninsular Malaysia. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 273:97–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhat TK, Bhupinder S, Sharma OP (1998) Microbial degradation of tannins—a current perspective. Biodegradation 9:343–357

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bosire JO, Dahdouh-Guebas F, Kairo JG, Kazungu J, Dehairs F, Koedam N (2005) Litter degradation and CN dynamics in reforested mangrove plantations at Gazi Bay, Kenya. Biol Conserv 126:287–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyd CE, Goodyear CP (1971) Nutritive quality of food in ecological systems. Archiv Hydrobiol 69:256–270

    Google Scholar 

  • Branco JO (1993) Aspectos bioecológicos do caranguejo Ucides cordatus (Linnaeus, 1763) (Crustacea, Decapoda) do manguezal do Itacorubi, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Arq Biol Tecnol 36:133–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Brogim RA, Lana PC (1997) Espectro alimentar de Aratus pisonii, Chasmagnathus granulata e Sesarma rectum (Decapoda, Grapsidae) em um manguezal da Baia de Paranaguá, Paraná. Iheringia Ser Zool 83:35–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Burggren WW, McMahon BR (1988) Biology of the land crabs. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 479

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Camilleri JC (1989) Leaf choice by crustaceans in a mangrove forest in Queensland. Mar Biol 102:453–459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camilleri JC (1992) Leaf-litter processing by invertebrates in a mangrove forest in Queensland. Mar Biol 114:139–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Camilleri JC, Ribi G (1986) Leaching of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from dead leaves, formation of flakes from DOC, and feeding on flakes by crustaceans in mangroves. Mar Biol 91:337–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corrêa Ivo CT, Vasconcelos Gesteira TC (1999) Sinopse das observações sobre a bioecologia e pesca do caranguejo-Uçá, Ucides cordatus cordatus (Linnaeus, 1763), capturado em estuários de sua área de ocorrência no Brasil. Boletim Técnico-Científico do CEPENE 7:9–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Crisp (1984) Energy flow measurements. In: Holme, McIntyre (eds) Methods for the study of marine benthos. Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Cundell AM, Brown MS, Standford R, Mitchell R (1979) Microbial degradation of Rhiziphora mangle leaves immersed in the sea. Est Coast Shelf Sci 9:281–286

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dahdouh-Guebas F, Giuggioli M, Oluoch A, Vannini M, Cannicci S (1999) Feeding habits of non-ocypodid crabs from two mangrove forests in Kenya. Bull Mar Sci 64(2):291–297

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahdouh-Guebas F, Verneirt M, Tack JF, Koedam N (1997) Food preferences of Neosarmatium meinerti de Man (Decapoda: Sesarminae) and its possible effect on the regeneration of mangroves. Hydrobiologia 347:83–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Castro ACL (1986) Aspectos bio-ecologicos do caranguejo-Uçá, Ucides cordatus (Linnaeus, 1763), no estuario do Rio dos Cachorros e estreito do Coqueiro, Sao Luis - MA Bol Lab Hidrob 7:7–26

    Google Scholar 

  • De Geraldes MG, De Calventi IB (1983) Estudios experimentales para el mantenimiento en cautiverio del cangrejo Ucides cordatus. Ciencia interamericana 23:41–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Diele K (2000) Life History and Population Structure of the Exploited Mangrove Crab Ucides cordatus cordatus (Linnaeus, 1763) (Decapoda: Brachyura) in the Caeté Estuary, North Brazil. Ph. D. thesis, ZMT Contribution 9, Bremen, Germany

  • Diele K, Koch V, Saint-Paul U. (2005) Population structure, catch composition and CPUE of the artisanally harvested mangrove crab Ucides cordatus (Ocypodidae) in the Caeté estuary, North Brazil: indications for overfishing? Aquat Living Resour 18:169–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dye AH, Lasiak TA (1987) Assimilation efficiencies of fiddler crabs and deposit-feeding gastropods from tropical mangrove sediments. Comp Biochem Physiol 87A(2):341–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmerson WD, Mc Gwynne LE (1992) Feeding and assimilation of mangrove leaves by the crab Sesarma meinerti de Man in relation to leaf-litter production in Mgazana, a warm-temperate southern African mangrove swamp. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 157:41–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giddens RL, Lucas JS, Neilson MJ, Richards GN (1986) Feeding ecology of the mangrove crab Neosarmatium smithi (Crustacea: Decapoda: Sesarmidae). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 33:147–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaser M (2003) Interrelation between mangrove ecosystem, local economy and social sustainability in Caeté Estuary, North Brazil. Wetlands Ecol Manage 11:265–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaser M, Diele K (2004) Asymmetric outcomes: assessing central aspects of the biological, economic and social sustainability of a mangrove crab fishery, Ucides cordatus (Ocypodidae), in North Brazil. Ecol Econom 49:361–373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenaway P, Linton SM (1995) Dietary assimilation and food retention time in the herbivorous terrestrial crab Gecarcoidea natalis. Physiol Zool 68:1006–1028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenaway P, Raghaven S (1998) Digestive strategies in two species of leaf-eating crabs (Brachyura: Gecarcinidae) in a rain forest. Physiol Zool 71(1):36–44

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hargrave BT (1970) The utilization of benthic microflora by Hyalella azteca (Amphipoda). J Anim Ecol 39: 427–437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hogarth PJ (1999) The biology of mangroves. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyslop EJ (1980) Stomach contents analysis—a review of methods and their application. J Fish Biol 17:411–429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • INMET (1992) Normais Climatológicas (1961–1990): Brasilia, DF, Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INMET)

  • Jennerjahn TC, Ittekkot V (1997) Organic matter in sediments in the mangrove areas and adjacent continental margins in Brazil. I. Amino acids and hexosamines. Oceanol Acta 20:359–369

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jennerjahn TC, Ittekkot V, Klöpper S, Adi S, Nugroho SP, Sudiana N, Yusmal A, Prihartanto, Gaye-Haake B (2004) Biogeochemistry of a tropical river affected by human activities in its catchment: Brantas River estuary and coastal waters of Madura Strait, Java, Indonesia. Est Coast Shelf Sci 60:503–514

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kihlberg R (1972) The microbe as a source of food. Annu Rev Microbiol 26:427–466

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kjerfve B, Lacerda LD (1993) Mangroves of Brazil. In: Lacerda LD (ed) Conservation and sustainable utilization of mangrove forests in Latin America and African regions. Part 1: Latin America. Mangrove Ecosystems Technical Reports. pp 245–272

  • Koch V (1999) Epibenthic production and energy flow in the Caeté mangrove estuary, North Brazil. Ph. D. thesis, ZMT Contribution 6, Bremen, Germany

  • Koch V, Wolff M (2002) Energy budget and ecological role of mangrove epibenthos in the Caeté estuary, North Brazil. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 228:119–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krause G, Schories D, Glaser M, Diele K (2001) Spatial patterns of mangrove ecosystems: the bragantinian mangroves of northern Brazil (Bragança, Pará). Ecotropica 7:93–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar R, Singh M (1984) Tannins: their adverse role in ruminant nutrition. J Agric Food Chem 32:447–453

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kwok PW, Lee SY (1995) The growth performances of two mangrove crabs, Chiromanthes bidens and Parasesarma plicata under different leaf litter diets. Hydrobiologia 295:141–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee SY (1989) The importance of sesarminae crabs Chiromanthes spp. and inundation frequency on mangrove (Kandelia candel (L.) Druce) leaf litter turnover in a Hong Kong tidal shrimp pond. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 131:23–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee SY (1997) Potential trophic importance of the faecal material of the mangrove sesarmide crab Sesarma messa. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 159:275–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malley DF (1978) Degradation of mangrove leaf litter by the tropical sesarmid crab Chiromanthes onychophorum. Mar Biol 49:377–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mattson WJJ (1980) Herbivory in relation to plant nitrogen content. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 11:119–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mfilinge PL, Atta N, Tsuchiya M (2002) Nutrient dynamics and leaf litter decomposition in a subtropical mangrove forest at Oura Bay, Okinawa, Japan. Trees 16:172–180

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Micheli F (1993) Feeding ecology of mangrove crabs in North Eastern Australia: mangrove litter consumption by Sesarma messa and Sesarma smithii. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 171:165–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Micheli F, Gheradi F, Vannini M. (1991) Feeding and burrowing ecology of two East African mangrove crabs. Mar Biol 111:247–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nascimento SA (1993) Biologia do caranguejo-Uçá (Ucides cordatus). ADEMA, Aracajú, pp 48

    Google Scholar 

  • Nascimento SA, Rosas dos Santos E, Bomfim L, Saraiva da Costa R (1982) Estudo bio-ecológico do caranguejo-Uçá (Ucides cordatus) e do manguezal do estado de Sergipe-Nordeste do Brasil: Sergipe, Brazil, Governo do estado de Sergipe, pp 1–12

  • Neilson MJ, Giddins RL, Richards GN (1986) Effect of tannins on the palatability of mangrove leaves to the tropical sesarminid crab Neosarmatium smithi. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 34:185–186

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nordhaus I (2004) Feeding ecology of the semi-terrestrial crab Ucides cordatus cordatus (Decapoda: Brachyura) in a mangrove forest in northern Brazil. Ph. D. thesis, ZMT Contribution 18, Bremen, Germany

  • Nordhaus I, Wolff M, Diele K. (2006) Litter processing and population food intake of the mangrove crab Ucides cordatus in a high intertidal forest in northern Brazil. Est Coast Shelf Sci 67:239–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O′Dowd DJ, Lake PS (1989) Red crabs in rain forest, Christmas Island: removal and relocation of leaf-fall. J Trop Ecol 5:337–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O′Dowd DJ, Lake PS (1990) Red crabs in rain forest, Christmas Island: differential herbivory of seedlings. Oikos 58:289–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O′Dowd DJ, Lake PS (1991) Red crabs in rain forest, Christmas Island: removal and fate of fruits and seeds. J Trop Ecol 7:113–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrensky A, Sternhain US, Brun E, Wegbecher FX, Pestana D (1995) Análise da viabilidade técnico-econômica dos cultivos do caranguejo-uçá Ucides cordatus (Linnaeus, 1763) no litoral paraense. Arq Biol Tecnol 38:939–947

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyes VG, Tiedje JM (1976) Ecology of the gut microbiota of Tracheoniscus rathkei (Crustacea, Isopoda). Pedobiologia 16:67–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson AI (1986) Leaf-burying crabs: their influence on energy flow and export from mixed mangrove forests (Rhizophora spp.) in northeastern Australia. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 102:237–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson AI (1988) Decomposition of mangrove leaf litter in tropical Australia. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 116:235–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson AI, Daniel PA (1989) The influence of crabs on litter processing in high intertidal mangrove forests in tropical Australia. Oecologia 78:191–198

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson JR, Newell SY (1982) Experimental studies of particle ingestion by the sand fiddler crab Uca pugilator (Bosc). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 59:1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson AI, Alongi DM, Boto KG (1992) Food chains and carbon fluxes. In: Robertson AI, Alongi DM (eds) Tropical Mangrove Ecosystems. American Geophysical Union, Washington. pp. 293–326

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Russell-Hunter WD (1970) Aquatic productivity: an introduction to some basic aspects of biological oceanography and limnology. Macmillan, New York, pp 306

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt BB (2006) Characterization of organic nitrogen compounds in sediment and leaves of a mangrove ecosystem in North Brazil. Ph. D. thesis, Bremen, Germany, http://www.elib.suub.uni-bremen.de/diss/docs/00010476.pdf

  • Schories D, Barletta-Bergan A, Barletta M, Krumme U, Mehlig U, Rademaker V (2003) The keystone role of leaf-removing crabs in mangrove forests of North Brazil. Wetlands Ecol Manage 11:243–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skov MW, Hartnoll RG (2002) Paradoxical selective feeding on a low-nutrient diet: why do mangrove crabs eat leaves? Oecologia 131:1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinke TD, Rajh A, Holland AJ (1993) The feeding behaviour of the red mangrove crab Sesarma meinerti De Man, 1887 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Grapsidae) and its effect on the degradation of mangrove leaf litter. Afr J mar Sci 13:151–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thongtham N, Kristensen E (2005) Carbon and nitrogen balance of leaf-eating sesarmid crabs (Neoepisesarma versicolor) offered different food sources. Est Coast Shelf Sci 65:213–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Twilley RR, Lugo AE, Patterson-Zucca C (1986) Litter production and turnover in basin mangrove forests in Southwest Florida. Ecology 67:670–683

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wafar S, Untawale AG, Wafar M (1997) Litter fall and energy flux in a mangrove ecosystem. Est Coast Shelf Sci 44:111–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werry J, Lee SY (2005) Grapsid crabs mediate link between mangrove litter production and estuarine planktonic food chains. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 293:165–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams MJ (1981) Methods for analysis of natural diet in portunid crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 52:103–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woitchik AF, Ohowa B, Kazungu JM, Rao RG, Goeyens L, Dehairs F (1997) Nitrogen enrichment during decomposition of mangrove leaf litter in an east African coastal lagoon (Kenya): Relative importance of biological nitrogen fixation. Biogeochemistry 39:15–35

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wolcott DL, Wolcott TG (1984) Food quality and cannibalism in the red land crab, Gecarcinus lateralis. Physiol Zool 57:318–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolcott DL, Wolcott TG (1987) Nitrogen limitation in the herbivorous land crab Cardisoma guanhumi. Physiol Zool 60:262–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfrath B (1992) Field experiments on feeding of European fiddler crab Uca tangeri. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 90:39–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1996) Biostatistical analysis. Prentice Hall, New Jersey pp 662

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmer M (1999) The fate and effects of ingested hydrolyzable tannins in Porcellio scaber. J Chem Ecol 25:611–628

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmer M, Danko JP, Pennings SC, Danford AR, Carefoot TH, Ziegler A, Uglow RF (2002) Cellulose digestion and phenol oxidation in coastal isopods (Crustacea: Isopoda). Mar Biol 140:1207–1213

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmer M, Topp W (1998) Nutritional biology of terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea): copper revisited. Isr J Zool 44:453–462

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank our Brazilian and German colleagues of the MADAM project. Special thanks to Roberta Kelley Pinheiro Soares, Adriana do Socorro da Costa Gonçalves, João Deusdete and Chico Amancio for many hours of help in the field. We thank Marc Mussmann for kind assistance with the microbiological analyses at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology. Karen Diele and Tim Jennerjahn are thanked for valuable comments on the manuscript. This study was part of the MADAM project, a Brazilian-German cooperation financed by the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) and the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) under the code 03F0154A. This is MADAM contribution No. 109. The experiments in this study comply with current Brazilian law.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zentrum für Marine Tropenökologie, Fahrenheitstraße 6, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Inga Nordhaus & Matthias Wolff

Authors
  1. Inga Nordhaus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Matthias Wolff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Inga Nordhaus.

Additional information

Communicated by O. Kinne.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nordhaus, I., Wolff, M. Feeding ecology of the mangrove crab Ucides cordatus (Ocypodidae): food choice, food quality and assimilation efficiency. Mar Biol 151, 1665–1681 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0597-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0597-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation