Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of coral bleaching on the obligate coral-dwelling crab Trapezia cymodoce

  • Report
  • Published:
Coral Reefs Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Corals are an essential and threatened habitat for a diverse range of reef-associated animals. Episodes of coral bleaching are predicted to increase in frequency and intensity over coming decades, yet the effects of coral-host bleaching on the associated animal communities remain poorly understood. The present study investigated the effects of host-colony bleaching on the obligate coral-dwelling crab, Trapezia cymodoce, during a natural bleaching event in the lagoon of Lizard Island, Australia. Branching corals, which harbour the highest diversity of coral associates, comprised 13% of live coral cover at the study site, with 83% affected by bleaching. Crabs on healthy and bleached colonies of Pocillopora damicornis were monitored over a 5-week period to determine whether coral bleaching affected crab density and movement patterns. All coral colonies initially contained one breeding pair of crabs. There was a significant decline in crab density on bleached corals after 5 weeks, with many corals losing one or both crabs, yet all healthy colonies retained a mating pair. Fecundity of crabs collected from bleached and healthy colonies of P. damicornis was also compared. The size of egg clutches of crabs collected from bleached hosts was 40% smaller than those from healthy hosts, indicating a significant reduction in fecundity. A laboratory experiment on movement patterns found that host-colony bleaching also prompted crabs to emigrate in search of more suitable colonies. Emigrant crabs engaged in aggressive interactions with occupants of healthy hosts, with larger crabs always usurping occupants of a smaller size. Decreased densities and clutch sizes, along with increased competitive interactions, could potentially result in a population decline of these important coral associates with cascading effects on coral health.

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

References

  • Abele LG (1976) Comparative species richness in fluctuating and constant environments : coral-associated decapod crustaceans. Science 192:461–463

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Abele LG, Patton WK (1976) The size of coral heads and the community biology of associated decapod crustaceans. J Biogeogr 3:35–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Austin AD, Austin SA, Sale PF (1980) Community structure of the fauna associated with the coral Pocillopora damicornis (l) on the Great Barrier Reef. Aust J Mar Freshw Res 31:163–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellwood DR, Hughes TP, Folke C, Nystrom M (2004) Confronting the coral reef crisis. Nature 429:827–833

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bellwood DR, Hoey AS, Ackerman JL, Depczynski M (2006) Coral bleaching, reef fish community phase shifts and the resilience of coral reefs. Global Change Biol 12:1587–1594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown BE, Suharsono (1990) Damage and recovery of coral reefs affected by El-Niño related seawater warming in the Thousand Islands, Indonesia. Coral Reefs 8:163-170

  • Caley JM, Buckley KA, Jones GP (2001) Separating ecological effects of habitat fragmentation, degradation and loss on coral commensals. Ecology 82:3435–3448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro P (1978) Movements between coral colonies in Trapezia ferruginea (Crustacea Brachyura), an obligate symbiont of scleractinian corals. Mar Biol 46:237–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro P (1988) Animal symbioses in coral-reef communities - A review. Symbiosis 5:161–184

    Google Scholar 

  • Childress JR (1972) Behavioral ecology and fitness theory in a tropical hermit crab. Ecology 53:960–964

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coles SL (1980) Species diversity of decapods associated with living and dead reef coral Pocillopora meandrina. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 2:281–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connell JH (1978) Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs - high diversity of trees and corals is maintained only in a non-equilibrium state. Science 199:1302–1310

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Donner SD, Skirving WJ, Little CM, Oppenheimer M, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2005) Global assessment of coral bleaching and required rates of adaptation under climate change. Global Change Biol 11:2251–2265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman GH, Halton JH (1951) Note on exact treatment of contingency, goodness of fit and other problems of significance. Biometrika 38:141–149

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Garpe KC, Yahya SAS, Lindahl U, Ohman MC (2006) Long-term effects of the 1998 coral bleaching event on reef fish assemblages. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 315:237–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gleason MG (1993) Effects of disturbance on coral communities - bleaching in Moorea, French Polynesia. Coral Reefs 12:193–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1976) Some physical and biological determinants of coral community structure in the Eastern Pacific. Ecol Monogr 46:431–456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1980) Defense by symbiotic crustacea of host corals elicited by chemical cues from predators Oecologia 47:287–290

    Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1983a) Extensive bleaching and death of reef corals on the Pacific Coast of Panama. Environ Conserv 10:149–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1983b) Crustacean symbionts and the defense of corals: coevolution on the reef? In: Nitecki MH (ed) coevolution. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 111–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1983c) Increased survivorship in corals harboring crustacean symbionts. Mar Biol Lett 4:105–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW, Perez M, Gilchrist SL (1985) Lipid decline in stressed corals and their crustacean symbionts. Biol Bull 168:276–284

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gotelli NJ, Gilchrist SL, Abele LG (1985) Population biology of Trapezia spp. and other coral-associated decapods. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 21:89–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hiatt RW, Strasburg DW (1960) Ecological relationships of the fish fauna on coral reefs in the Marshall Islands. Ecol Monogr 30:65–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoegh-Guldberg O (1999) Climate change, coral bleaching and the future of the world’s coral reefs. Mar Freshw Res 50:839–866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huber ME (1987) Aggressive behavior of Trapezia intermedia Miers and T. digitalis Latreille (Brachyura, Xanthidae). J Crustac Biol 7:238–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huber ME, Coles SL (1986) Resource utilization and competition among the 5 Hawaiian species of Trapezia (Crustacea, Brachyura). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 30:21–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes TP, Baird AH, Bellwood DR, Card M, Connolly SR, Folke C, Grosberg R, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Jackson JBC, Kleypas J, Lough JM, Marshall P, Nystrom M, Palumbi SR, Pandolfi JM, Rosen B, Roughgarden J (2003) Climate change, human impacts, and the resilience of coral reefs. Science 301:929–933

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hyatt GW, Salmon M (1978) Combat in the fiddler crabs Uca pugilator and U. pugnax: a quantitative analysis. Behaviour 65:182–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jennings S, Boullé DP, Polunin NVC (1996) Habitat correlates of the distribution and biomass of Seychelles’ reef fishes. Environ Biol Fish 46:15–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones GP, McCormick MI, Srinivasan M, Eagle JV (2004) Coral decline threatens fish biodiversity in marine reserves. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:8251–8253

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Karlson RH, Hurd LE (1993) Disturbance, coral reef communities, and changing ecological paradigms. Coral Reefs 12:117–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knudsen JW (1967) Trapezia and Tetralia (Decapoda, Brachyura, Xanthidae) as obligate ectoparasites of pocilloporid and acroporid corals. Pac Sci 21:51–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Kokita T, Nakazono A (2001) Rapid response of an obligately corallivorous filefish Oxymonacanthas longirostris (Monacanthidae) to a mass coral bleaching event. Coral Reefs 20:155–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindahl U, Ohman MC, Schelten CK (2001) The 1997/1998 mass mortality of corals: Effects on fish communities on a Tanzanian coral reef. Mar Pollut Bull 42:127–131

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lough JM (1999) Sea surface temperatures along the Great Barrier Reef: a contribution to the study of coral bleaching. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Research Report no. 57. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville

    Google Scholar 

  • Loya Y, Sakai K, Yamazato K, Nakano Y, Sambali H, van Woesik R (2001) Coral bleaching: the winners and the losers. Ecol Lett 4:122–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luckhurst BE, Luckhurst K (1978) Analysis of influence of substrate variables on coral-reef fish communities. Mar Biol 49:317–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall PA, Baird AH (2000) Bleaching of corals on the Great Barrier Reef: differential susceptibilities among taxa. Coral Reefs 19:155–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR, Baird AH, Marshall PA, Toscano MA (2004) Comparing bleaching and mortality responses of hard corals between southern Kenya and the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Mar Pollut Bull 48:327–335

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR, Ateweberhan M, Graham NAJ, Wilson SK, Sebastian CR, Guillaume MMM, Bruggemann JH (2007) Western Indian Ocean coral communities: bleaching responses and susceptibility to extinction. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 337:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munday PL (2001) Fitness consequences of habitat use and competition among coral-dwelling fishes. Oecologia 128:585–593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munday PL (2004) Habitat loss, resource specialization, and extinction on coral reefs. Global Change Biol 10:1642–1647

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norman CP, Jones MB (1993) Reproductive ecology of the velvet swimming crab, Necora puber (Brachyura: Portunidae), at Plymouth. J Mar Biol Assoc U K 73:379–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Öhman MC, Rajasuriya A (1998) Relationships between habitat structure and fish communities on coral. Environ Biol Fish 53:19–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patton WK (1966) Decapod Crustacea commensal with Queensland branching corals. Crustaceana 10:271–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patton WK (1974) Community structure among the animals inhabiting the coral Pocillopora damicornis at Heron Island, Australia. In: Vernberg WB (ed) Symbiosis in the sea. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC, pp 219–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Patton WK (1994) Distribution and ecology of animals associated with branching corals (Acropora spp.) from the Great Barrier Reef Australia. Bull Mar Sci 55:193–211

    Google Scholar 

  • Pratchett MS (2001) Influence of coral symbionts on feeding preferences of crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci in the western Pacific. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 214:111–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratchett MS, Vytopil E, Parks P (2000) Coral crabs influence the feeding patterns of crown-of-thorns starfish. Coral Reefs 19:36-36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratchett MS, Wilson SK, Berumen ML, McCormick MI (2004) Sublethal effects of coral bleaching on an obligate coral feeding butterflyfish. Coral Reefs 23:352–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratchett MS, Munday PL, Wilson SK, Graham NAJ, Cinner JE, Bellwood DR, Jones GP, Polunin NVC, Mcclanahan TR (2008) Effects of climate-induced coral bleaching on coral-reef fishes - ecological and economic consequences. Oceanogr Mar Biol Annu Rev 46:251–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratchett MS, Wilson SK, Graham NAJ, Munday PL, Jones GP, Polunin NVC (2009) Coral bleaching and consequences for motile reef organisms: past, present and uncertain future effects. In: van Oppen MJH, Lough JM (eds) Coral bleaching: patterns and processes, causes and consequences. Springer, Heidelberg

    Google Scholar 

  • Preston EM (1973) A computer simulation of competition among five sympatric congeneric species of xanthid crabs. Ecology 54:469–483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweitzer CE (2005) The Trapeziidae and Domeciidae (Decapoda : Brachyura : Xanthoidea) in the fossil record and a new Eocene genus from Baja California Sur, Mexico. J Crustac Biol 25:625–636

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheppard CRC (2003) Predicted recurrences of mass coral mortality in the Indian Ocean. Nature 425:294–297

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shima JS, Osenberg CW, Stier AC (2010) The vermetid gastropod Dendropoma maximum reduces coral growth and survival. Biol Lett. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0291

  • Somers KM (1991) Characterizing size-specific fecundity in crustaceans. In: Schram FR (ed) Crustacean egg production. AA Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 357–378

    Google Scholar 

  • Stella JS, Jones GP, Pratchett MS (2010) Variation in the structure of epifaunal invertebrate assemblages among coral hosts. Coral Reefs:1-17

  • Stella JS, Pratchett MS, Hutchings PA, Jones GP (2011) Coral-associated invertebrates: diversity, ecological importance and vulnerability to disturbance. Oceanogr Mar Biol Annu Rev 49:’in press’

  • Stewart HL, Holbrook SJ, Schmitt RJ, Brooks AJ (2006) Symbiotic crabs maintain coral health by clearing sediments. Coral Reefs 25:609–615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stier AC, McKeon CS, Osenberg CW, Shima JS (2010) Guard crabs alleviate deleterious effects of vermetid snails on a branching coral. Coral Reefs 29:1019–1022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stimson J (1990) Stimulation of fat-body production in the polyps of the coral Pocillopora damicornis by the presence of mutualistic crabs of the genus Trapezia. Mar Biol 106:211–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsuchiya M, Yonaha C (1992) Community organization of associates of the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis: effects of colony size and interactions among the obligate symbionts. Galaxea 11:29–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Vannini M (1985) A shrimp that speaks crab-ese. J Crustac Biol 5:160–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber JN, Woodhead PMJ (1970) Ecological studies of the coral predator Acanthaster planci in the South Pacific. Mar Biol 6:12–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SK, Graham NAJ, Pratchett MS, Jones GP, Polunin NVC (2006) Multiple disturbances and the global degradation of coral reefs: are reef fishes at risk or resilient? Global Change Biol 12:2220–2234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SK, Burgess SC, Cheal AJ, Emslie M, Fisher R, Miller I, Polunin NVC, Sweatman HPA (2008) Habitat utilization by coral reef fish: implications for specialists vs. generalists in a changing environment. J Anim Ecol 77:220–228

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank B. Gordon, F. DeFaria, T. Z. Ang, C. Holland and the personnel of Lizard Island Research Station for their assistance in the field and Ray Berkelmans and the Australian Institute of Marine Science for sea surface temperature data. This study was supported by CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship, School of Marine and Tropical Biology at James Cook University and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    J. S. Stella, P. L. Munday & G. P. Jones

  2. Climate Adaptation Flagship, CSIRO, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia

    J. S. Stella

Authors
  1. J. S. Stella
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. L. Munday
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. G. P. Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. S. Stella.

Additional information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stella, J.S., Munday, P.L. & Jones, G.P. Effects of coral bleaching on the obligate coral-dwelling crab Trapezia cymodoce . Coral Reefs 30, 719–727 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-011-0748-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-011-0748-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation