Behavioral Physiology of Four Crab Species in Low Salinity

Reports focusing on the behavioral responses of crabs to exposure to low salinity have involved choice chamber experiments or quantification of changes in activity. In addition to describing changes in locomotor activity in four species of crabs of differing osmoregulatory ability, the present study describes six behaviors: increased movement of the mouthparts, cleaning of the mouthparts with the chelae, cleaning of the antennae and antennules with the maxillipeds, flicking of the antennae, retraction of the antennules, and extension of the abdomen. Callinectes sapidus and Carcinus maenas are classed as efficient osmoregulators, and in general, showed an increase in these behaviors with decreasing salinity. Cancer magister, a weak regulator, and Libinia emarginata, an osmoconformer, exhibited these behaviors to a lesser degree and became inactive in the lower salinities, tending to adopt an isolation-type response. The differences in behaviors between the species correlated closely with previously reported changes in cardiovascular function and hemolymph flow. These overt reactions are discussed in relation to the osmoregulatory physiology and ecology of each crab species.