Predation by crabs on rocky shores in north-east Atlantic ...

• Main Author: Silva, Ana Catarina Ferreirada
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Plymouth 2008
• Subjects: North East Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.24382/3009; https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/613

Highly mobile predators are known to have an important influence on shallow-water habitats. There is, however, little information about the role of crabs on the ecology of rocky shores. Here I examine the extent and consequences of predation by crabs on shores in the North-East Atlantic. The specific aims of this thesis are to: investigate spatial variation in use of the intertidal by crabs along a horizontal gradient of exposure to wave action and a vertical gradient of tidal elevation; assess their use of the intertidal as a feeding area by examining stomach content composition; examine the extent of connectivity between the subtidal and intertidal habitats as a consequence of predation by crabs, investigate the ecological role of crabs as predators in the intertidal, and to assess the importance of behavioral and morphological factors in determining the outcomes of these predator-prey interactions. Field sampling showed that on shores in southwest Britain, the abundance of Carcinus maenas, Necora puber ...