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Food selection by a mangrove crab: temporal changes in fasted animals

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Abstract

The feeding choices of the mangrove crab Ucides cordatus for various mangrove plant leaves (Avicennia schaueriana, Laguncularia racemosa, and Rhizophora mangle) at different ages (mature, senescent pre-abscission, and decomposing leaves) were examined. In a controlled experiment set in a mangrove area, we evaluated crab selection for different plant leaves by analyzing foraging rate (number of leaves with predation marks) and leaf consumption. Crabs were housed individually in plastic containers and after a 3-day fast supplied with leaf fragments every 24 h for 72 h. Uneaten leaves were removed before each new food offering. No food selection was observed in the first day, but after this period, senescent leaves, which have a high polyphenol content, were rejected. On the third day, an interactive effect between plant species and leaf age was shown to affect leaf selection, with mature leaves of A. schaueriana and L. racemosa being more selected than the other treatments. This observation was consistent across crab sexes and ages. Our results show that food selection by this mangrove crab changes through time in fasted animals, suggesting that this variable must be controlled in food preference studies.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank all the colleagues who help in both field and laboratory activities, especially B. Sant’Anna, C. Cordeiro, and T. Sabanelli; and the anonymous referees and editor by the valuable suggestions in an early version of the manuscript. Financial support was provided by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo—FAPESP (R.A.C.-# 2002/11580-3; and M.A.A.P. # 2002/05614-2), Fundação Biodiversitas—Programa de Espécies Ameaçadas de Extinção (M.A.A.P. # 020I/012004), and Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa—PROINTER/PROPe/UNESP (M.A.A.P # 49/2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Instituto do Mar, Campus Baixada Santista (IMar/UNIFESP); Av. Alm. Saldanha da Gama, 89-Ponta da Praia, Santos, SP, 11030-400, Brazil

    Ronaldo A. Christofoletti

  2. UNESP-Univ Estadual Paulista, FCAV, Campus de Jaboticabal, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zootecnia (Área de Produção Animal), Jaboticabal, SP, 14884-900, Brazil

    Ronaldo A. Christofoletti, Gustavo Y. Hattori & Marcelo A. A. Pinheiro

  3. Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Rua Nossa Senhora do Rosário, 3863, São Jorge, Itacoatiara, AM, 69103-128, Brazil

    Gustavo Y. Hattori

  4. Campus Experimental do Litoral Paulista (CLP), Grupo de Pesquisa em Biologia de Crustáceos (CRUSTA), UNESP-Univ Estadual Paulista, Praça Infante Dom Henrique, s/n, Parque Bitaru, São Vicente, SP, 11330-900, Brazil

    Marcelo A. A. Pinheiro

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  1. Ronaldo A. Christofoletti
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Correspondence to Ronaldo A. Christofoletti.

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Christofoletti, R.A., Hattori, G.Y. & Pinheiro, M.A.A. Food selection by a mangrove crab: temporal changes in fasted animals. Hydrobiologia 702, 63–72 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1307-6

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