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Diversity and abundance of mangrove fiddle crabs, genus Uca (Decapoda, Ocypodidae) at a mangrove in Kema, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

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Abstract

Mangrove ecosystems are sites with high biodiversity of benthic fauna, and fiddler crabs (genus Uca) are common benthic fauna in mangroves. The North Sulawesi in Indonesia has a good condition of mangrove while the information of the fiddler crabs is still limited. Manual samplings were conducted in wet, dry and transient seasons at a mangrove in Kema, North Sulawesi to investigate the species composition, density and distribution pattern of fiddler crabs. A total of 168 individuals, subjected to eight species of genus Uca crabs were collected at the mangrove, with U. triangularis having the highest abundance and U. annulipes having the lowest abundance. The densities of fiddle crabs were 27.56 ind./m2, 32.89 ind./m2 and 14.22 ind./m2 at the seaward, middle and landward zones, respectively, and the density was higher in dry and wet seasons than in transient season.

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely thank Dirhamsyah, Chen Bin, Pramudji, I Wayan Eka Darmawan and Mochtar Jabar for their assistances in arranging and conducting the field samplings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Oceanography, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jakarta, 14430, Indonesia

    Pratiwi Rianta & Widyastuti Ernawati

  2. Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Guangcheng Chen & Shunyang Chen

Authors
  1. Pratiwi Rianta
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  2. Widyastuti Ernawati
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  3. Guangcheng Chen
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  4. Shunyang Chen
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Correspondence to Pratiwi Rianta.

Additional information

Foundation item: The China-Indonesia Ecological Station Establishment and Marine Biodiversity Investigation in North Sulawesi Sea; the China-ASEAN Marine Protected Area Ecosystem Management Network; the Public Science and Technology Research Funds Projects of Ocean under contract No. 201505009.

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Rianta, P., Ernawati, W., Chen, G. et al. Diversity and abundance of mangrove fiddle crabs, genus Uca (Decapoda, Ocypodidae) at a mangrove in Kema, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 37, 92–96 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-018-1336-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-018-1336-8

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