TY - JOUR
T1 - Behavioural evidence for body colour signaling in the fiddler crab Uca perplexa (Brachyura
T2 - Ocypodidae)
AU - Takeda, Satoshi
N1 - Funding Information:
I thank Dr. M. Murai, Mrs. Y. Nakano and S. Nakamura and other staff of Sesoko Station, Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, for their help and facilitating my work there. I am grateful to Dr. M. Murai for his invaluable information and suggestions for this study. This study was partially supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. 12640605). [PH]
PY - 2006/3/21
Y1 - 2006/3/21
N2 - In the reproductive season, mature females of the fiddler crab Uca perplexa leave their burrows and wander about their habitat for mating. To clarify whether the fiddler crabs respond to colour or luminosity, I examined the behavioural responses of the males to the wandering females before and after the females were painted white, red, black or blue. The behaviours of the males were categorized into three types: lateral-circular wave and lateral-straight wave for courting, and repelling. Before painting, almost all of the males courted the females. After painting, significantly fewer males courted the red-, black- and blue-painted females than courted the white-painted females. These results mean that the fiddler crabs can discriminate colours or luminosity. The role of body colour as a visual signal in crab society is discussed.
AB - In the reproductive season, mature females of the fiddler crab Uca perplexa leave their burrows and wander about their habitat for mating. To clarify whether the fiddler crabs respond to colour or luminosity, I examined the behavioural responses of the males to the wandering females before and after the females were painted white, red, black or blue. The behaviours of the males were categorized into three types: lateral-circular wave and lateral-straight wave for courting, and repelling. Before painting, almost all of the males courted the females. After painting, significantly fewer males courted the red-, black- and blue-painted females than courted the white-painted females. These results mean that the fiddler crabs can discriminate colours or luminosity. The role of body colour as a visual signal in crab society is discussed.
KW - Body colour
KW - Colour discrimination
KW - Courting display
KW - Fiddler crab
KW - Uca perplexa
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jembe.2005.09.021
DO - 10.1016/j.jembe.2005.09.021
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33644828265
VL - 330
SP - 521
EP - 527
JO - Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
JF - Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
SN - 0022-0981
IS - 2
ER -