Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS)

Data Policy
Persons | Institutes | Publications | Projects | Datasets
[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page

Homing experiments in the tree-climbing crab Sesarma leptosoma (Decapoda, Grapsidae)
Cannicci, S.; Ruwa, R. K.; Vannini, M. (1997). Homing experiments in the tree-climbing crab Sesarma leptosoma (Decapoda, Grapsidae). Ethology 103(11): 935-944
In: Ethology. Wiley-Blackwell: Berlin. ISSN 0179-1613; e-ISSN 1439-0310
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keywords
    Behaviour > Homing behaviour
    Sesarma leptosoma Hilgendorf, 1869 [WoRMS]

Authors  Top 
  • Cannicci, S., more
  • Ruwa, R. K.
  • Vannini, M.

Abstract
    Sesarma leptosoma an East African mangrove-dwelling crab, migrates twice a day from a system of known dens among the roots to well-defined feeding areas in the branches of trees, reaching 15m high. Field experiments were performed to test whether chemical or visual cues are involved in the orientation and homing of this species to reach their feeding areas. Manipulation of the substratum at branch junctions, in order to alter possible chemical cues, did not affect homing ability in S. leptosoma. Moreover, crabs trained to cross an asymmetrical artificial wooden fork could still follow their preferred directions after (1) the fork branches had been switched, (2) the whole fork had been rotated around the trunk, resulting in a right-left inversion, and (3) the inversion of two wide black and white screens hiding most of the canopy from view of the climbing crabs. These results suggest that S. leptosoma may not rely on reference systems such as chemical trail-following and chemical or visual cues from the substratum, but probably depend on complex visual information from the surroundings trunks and/or from the sun's position integrated with junction sequence memory.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors 
[Back]