Mechanisms causing size differences of the land hermit crab Coenobita rugosus among eco-islands in Southern Taiwan.

ABSTRACT: Numerous environmental factors can influence body size. Comparing populations in different ecological contexts is one potential approach to elucidating the most critical of such factors. In the current study, we found that the body size of the land hermit crab Coenobita rugosus was significantly larger on Dongsha Island in the South China Sea than on other eco-islands around Southern Taiwan. We hypothesized that this could be due to differences in (1) shell resources, (2) parasite impact, (3) competition, (4) predation, and (5) food. We found no supporting evidence for the first three hypotheses; the shells used by the hermit crabs on Dongsha were in poorer condition than were those used elsewhere, extremely few individuals in the region had ectoparasites, and the density of hermit crabs v

SUBMITTER: Hsu CH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5384810 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature