Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats

Many subtidal predators undertake regular tidal migrations into intertidal areas in order to access abundant prey. One of the most productive habitats in soft bottom intertidal systems is formed by beds of epibenthic bivalves such as blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gig...

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Published in:Estuaries and Coasts
Main Authors: Waser, Andreas M., Dekker, Rob, Witte, Johannes Ij, McSweeney, Niamh, Ens, Bruno J., van der Meer, Jaap
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z
https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85027339910&partnerID=8YFLogxK
http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85027339910&partnerID=8YFLogxK
id ftvuamstcris:oai:research.vu.nl:publications/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42
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spelling ftvuamstcris:oai:research.vu.nl:publications/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42 2024-09-30T14:33:57+00:00 Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats Waser, Andreas M. Dekker, Rob Witte, Johannes Ij McSweeney, Niamh Ens, Bruno J. van der Meer, Jaap 2018-03 https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85027339910&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85027339910&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Waser , A M , Dekker , R , Witte , J I , McSweeney , N , Ens , B J & van der Meer , J 2018 , ' Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats ' , Estuaries and Coasts , vol. 41 , no. 2 , pp. 507-520 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z Animal abundance Crassostrea gigas Mytilus edulis Tidal migration Wadden Sea /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water article 2018 ftvuamstcris https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z 2024-09-05T00:23:22Z Many subtidal predators undertake regular tidal migrations into intertidal areas in order to access abundant prey. One of the most productive habitats in soft bottom intertidal systems is formed by beds of epibenthic bivalves such as blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas). In the Dutch Wadden Sea, these bivalves might face substantial predation pressure by the shore crab (Carcinus maenas), which increased considerably in numbers during the last 20 years. However, the quantification of this species on bivalve beds is challenging, since most methods common for quantifying animal abundance in marine habitats cannot be used. This study investigated the potential of two methods to quantify the abundance of C. maenas on 14 epibenthic bivalve beds across the Dutch Wadden Sea. The use of the number of crabs migrating from subtidal towards intertidal areas as a proxy of abundance on bivalve beds yielded unreliable results. In contrast, crabs caught with traps on the beds were correlated with the abundance assessed on the surrounding bare flats by beam trawl and therefore provided usable results. The estimates, however, were only reliable for crabs exceeding 35 mm in carapace width (CW). The application of these estimates indicated that crab abundances on bivalve beds were influenced by the biogenic structure. Beds dominated by oysters attracted many large crabs (> 50-mm CW), whereas abundances of medium-sized crabs (35–50-mm CW) showed no relationship to the oyster occurrence. The combination of traps and trawls is capable of quantifying crab abundance on bivalve beds, which offers the possibility to study biotic processes such as predator-prey interactions in these complex structures in more detail. Article in Journal/Newspaper Crassostrea gigas Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU): Research Portal Pacific Estuaries and Coasts 41 2 507 520
institution Open Polar
collection Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU): Research Portal
op_collection_id ftvuamstcris
language English
topic Animal abundance
Crassostrea gigas
Mytilus edulis
Tidal migration
Wadden Sea
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water
name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water
spellingShingle Animal abundance
Crassostrea gigas
Mytilus edulis
Tidal migration
Wadden Sea
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water
name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water
Waser, Andreas M.
Dekker, Rob
Witte, Johannes Ij
McSweeney, Niamh
Ens, Bruno J.
van der Meer, Jaap
Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats
topic_facet Animal abundance
Crassostrea gigas
Mytilus edulis
Tidal migration
Wadden Sea
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water
name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water
description Many subtidal predators undertake regular tidal migrations into intertidal areas in order to access abundant prey. One of the most productive habitats in soft bottom intertidal systems is formed by beds of epibenthic bivalves such as blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas). In the Dutch Wadden Sea, these bivalves might face substantial predation pressure by the shore crab (Carcinus maenas), which increased considerably in numbers during the last 20 years. However, the quantification of this species on bivalve beds is challenging, since most methods common for quantifying animal abundance in marine habitats cannot be used. This study investigated the potential of two methods to quantify the abundance of C. maenas on 14 epibenthic bivalve beds across the Dutch Wadden Sea. The use of the number of crabs migrating from subtidal towards intertidal areas as a proxy of abundance on bivalve beds yielded unreliable results. In contrast, crabs caught with traps on the beds were correlated with the abundance assessed on the surrounding bare flats by beam trawl and therefore provided usable results. The estimates, however, were only reliable for crabs exceeding 35 mm in carapace width (CW). The application of these estimates indicated that crab abundances on bivalve beds were influenced by the biogenic structure. Beds dominated by oysters attracted many large crabs (> 50-mm CW), whereas abundances of medium-sized crabs (35–50-mm CW) showed no relationship to the oyster occurrence. The combination of traps and trawls is capable of quantifying crab abundance on bivalve beds, which offers the possibility to study biotic processes such as predator-prey interactions in these complex structures in more detail.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Waser, Andreas M.
Dekker, Rob
Witte, Johannes Ij
McSweeney, Niamh
Ens, Bruno J.
van der Meer, Jaap
author_facet Waser, Andreas M.
Dekker, Rob
Witte, Johannes Ij
McSweeney, Niamh
Ens, Bruno J.
van der Meer, Jaap
author_sort Waser, Andreas M.
title Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats
title_short Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats
title_full Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats
title_fullStr Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats
title_full_unstemmed Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats
title_sort quantifying tidal movements of the shore crab carcinus maenas on to complex epibenthic bivalve habitats
publishDate 2018
url https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z
https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85027339910&partnerID=8YFLogxK
http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85027339910&partnerID=8YFLogxK
geographic Pacific
geographic_facet Pacific
genre Crassostrea gigas
genre_facet Crassostrea gigas
op_source Waser , A M , Dekker , R , Witte , J I , McSweeney , N , Ens , B J & van der Meer , J 2018 , ' Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats ' , Estuaries and Coasts , vol. 41 , no. 2 , pp. 507-520 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z
op_relation https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42
op_rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z
container_title Estuaries and Coasts
container_volume 41
container_issue 2
container_start_page 507
op_container_end_page 520
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