First reports of protists in land crabs of the family Gecarcinidae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) suggest a relatively widespread phenomenon
Por:
Perger, Robert, CORTES, JORGE, Pacheco, Cristian
Publicada:
17 ene 2022
Categoría:
Ecology, evolution, behavior and systematics
Resumen:
Eccrinales are protists of the class Mesomycetozoea exclusively found in
the digestive tract of marine, freshwater and terrestrial arthropods.
Isopods are the only terrestrial crustaceans from which eccrinids have
been reported. Among brachyuran crabs, eccrinids were exclusively
reported in grapsid and ocypodid crabs, with a percentage of occurrence
ranging from 5% to 100% in the respective species. The eccrinid
Enteromyces callianassae Lichtwardt, 1961 has been found in the guts of
various decapod crustacean species in marine habitats and intertidal mud
or sand flats in Chile, France, Japan and the USA. Semi-terrestrial
species of Leptuca and Minuca were the most terrestrial crabs in which
E. callianassae has been observed. Here we report the presence of E.
callianassae in stomachs of the land crab Gecarcinus lateralis. These
are the first observations of protists in gecarcinid crabs, which are
regarded as the most terrestrial brachyuran crabs. The presence of E.
callianassae in 11% of 74 examined stomachs from males and females of
G. lateralis from three locations in Costa Rica suggests that the
occurence of E. callianassae in these crabs is a relatively widespread
phenomenon. Considering that these highly terrestrial crabs are
important herbivores on island and continental landscapes, the presence
of eccrinids in the stomachs of these crabs may have important
implications for the carbon cycling in coastal ecosystems.
Filiaciones:
Perger, Robert:
Colecc Boliviana Fauna, La Paz, Bolivia
CORTES, JORGE:
Univ Costa Rica, Ctr Invest Ciencias Mar & Limnol CIMAR, San Jose, Costa Rica
Pacheco, Cristian:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Inst Ciencias Mar & Limnol ICMYL, Av Joel Montes Camarena, Mazatlan, Mexico
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