Agonistic, aggressive and sexual behavior of five species of hermit crabs from Japan (Decapoda: Anomura: Paguridae, Diogenidae)

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<p>Shell fighting, mating and aggressive behavior are reported in five species of intertidal and shallow water hermit crabs found in temperate Japan, viz., Pagurus filholi, P. maculosus, P. minutus, P. gracilipes (Paguridae) and Clibanarius virescens (Diogenidae). Shell fighting behavior was observed in all species. Rapping is the major component in shell fighting, but, unlike some Atlantic pagurid species reported by Hazlett (1966), spasmodic shaking behavior was not observed in the above pagurids except for P. gracilipes. Precopulatory guarding was observed in all five species. Before copulation, the male grasped the female by its minor cheliped in these four pagurids. However, in C. virescens, the male inserted both chelipeds into the shell of the female and maintained a position such that the shells of both were firmly approximated in a face-to-face position. Male-male fighting for a female during precopulatory guarding was observed in these pagurid species but not in C. virescens.</p>

Journal

  • Crustacean Research

    Crustacean Research Special2006 (6), 95-107, 2006

    Carcinological Society of Japan

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