Evidence of long-term allocentric spatial memory in the Terrestrial Hermit Crab Coenobita compressus.

ABSTRACT: Spatial learning is a complex cognitive skill and ecologically important trait scarcely studied in crustaceans. We investigated the ability of the Pacific (Ecuadorian) hermit crab Coenobita compressus, to learn an allocentric spatial task using a palatable novel food as reward. Crabs were trained to locate the reward in a single session of eleven consecutive trials and tested subsequently, for short- (5 min) and long-term memory 1, 3 and 7 days later. Our results indicate that crabs were able to learn the location of the reward as they showed a reduction in the time required to find the food whenever it was present, suggesting a visuo-spatial and olfactory cue-guided task resolution. Moreover, crabs also remember the location of the reward up to 7 days after training using spatial cues onl

SUBMITTER: Vargas-Vargas IL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10602228 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature