Journal of Tropical Oceanography >
Difference in the feeding contents of three hermit crabs in the coral reefs of the Nansha Islands, South China Sea
Copy editor: LIN Qiang
Received date: 2023-03-07
Revised date: 2023-04-17
Online published: 2023-04-22
Supported by
National Natural Science Foundation of China(42176118)
National Key Research and Development Project of China(2021YFC3100500)
Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China(2020B1212060058)
Hermit crab is a type of marine benthic animal. The complex structure of coral reefs makes it one of the areas with the highest diversity of hermit crabs. In response to changes in environmental conditions, such as increasing coverage of benthic algae, small benthic organisms such as hermit crabs can quickly adapt to changes in food resources and play a similar function to herbivorous fishes in maintaining the health of coral reef ecosystems. However, little is known about the differences in food composition on site and ecological functional positioning of different hermit crab species. In this study, three dominant hermit crab species were collected from the coral reef of the Nansha Islands in the spring of 2019: Dardanus lagopodes, Calcinus morgani, and Ciliopagurus strigatus, and their on-site food composition was analyzed using high-throughput sequencing technology. The results showed that there were nine phyla of food types for the three species of hermit crabs, including Rhodophyta, Pyrrophyta, Phaeophyta, Chlorophyta, Arthropoda and Bryozoa, etc. All three hermit crab species fed mainly on algae, including large amounts of Rhodophyta and Pyrrophyta algae (37.75% and 21.14%), and small amounts of Chlorophyta algae (3.13%). But the food composition of different hermit crab species was specific. Calcinus morgani fed mainly on algae turf and detritus and was a herbivorous hermit crab. Ciliopagurus strigatus took Ostracoid from epilithic algal matrix (EAM) as the main food source, accompanied by some branching coralline algae and filamentous Phaeophyta algae. Dardanus lagopodes fed on crustose coralline algae (CCA), macroalgae and epiphytic bryozoans. The results revealed obvious differences in the main foods of marine hermit crabs. Combined with the analysis of ecological niche overlap, it is found that the overlap of the three species of hermit crabs was low (0.059). The feeding areas of Dardanus lagopodes and the other two hermit crab species may not overlap in degraded coral reef areas dominated by CCA. Dardanus lagopodes plays an important role in clearing CCA and bryozoans, and maintaining the healthy development of coral reefs. Ciliopagurus strigatus and Calcinus morgani, as secondary consumers, transfer energy more efficiently to the upper level. These research results extend the previous understanding of the ecological status of hermit crabs.
Key words: hermit crab; diet; high-throughput sequencing; ecological function; coral reef
JIA Nan , ZHOU Tiancheng , HU Simin , ZHANG Chen , HUANG Hui , LIU Sheng . Difference in the feeding contents of three hermit crabs in the coral reefs of the Nansha Islands, South China Sea[J]. Journal of Tropical Oceanography, 2024 , 43(3) : 109 -121 . DOI: 10.11978/2023029
表1 寄居蟹样品的相关信息Tab. 1 Information about hermit crab samples |
种名 | 盾长/mm | 螺壳宽/mm | 螺长/mm | 螺口宽/mm | 寄居蟹湿重/g | 个体数 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
兔足真寄居蟹Dardanus lagopodes | 8.22±2.23 | 62.74±39.28 | 48.55±18.31 | 12.18±7.50 | 3.98±2.76 | 5 |
莫氏硬壳寄居蟹Calcinus morgani | 4.79±1.23 | 23.29±4.60 | 33.42±7.30 | 4.48± 1.52 | 0.58±0.47 | 5 |
沟纹纤毛寄居蟹Ciliopagurus strigatus | 4.32 | 18.82 | 31.54 | 1.90 | 0.38 | 2 |
图3 基于三种寄居蟹肠道内容物18S rDNA序列构建的系统进化树Fig. 3 Maximum likelihood tree of 18S rDNA sequence from hermit crab gut contents |
表2 三种寄居蟹的营养生态位宽度Tab. 2 Trophic niches breadth of the three species of hermit crabs |
种名 | 营养生态位宽度 |
---|---|
兔足真寄居蟹 Dardanus lagopodes | 7.67 |
莫氏硬壳寄居蟹 Calcinus morgani | 4.26 |
沟纹纤毛寄居蟹 Ciliopagurus strigatus | 2.62 |
图6 三种寄居蟹食物来源的食物网物种图片引用自McLaughlin等(2007) Fig. 6 Networks depicting the main dietary complementary and overlaps of the three species of hermit crabs |
表3 寄居蟹间的生态位重叠度Tab. 3 Niches overlap degree between hermit crabs |
寄居蟹种类 | 兔足真 寄居蟹 | 莫氏硬壳 寄居蟹 | 沟纹纤毛 寄居蟹 |
---|---|---|---|
兔足真寄居蟹 | — | 0.071 | 0.043 |
莫氏硬壳寄居蟹 | 0.071 | — | 0.062 |
沟纹纤毛寄居蟹 | 0.043 | 0.062 | — |
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