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Marine Hermit Crabs As Indicators of Freshwater Inundation on Tropical Shores

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Marine Hermit Crabs As Indicators of Freshwater Inundation on Tropical Shores Memoirs of Museum Victoria 60(1): 27–34 (2003) ISSN 1447-2546 (Print) 1447-2554 (On-line) http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/memoirs Marine hermit crabs as indicators of freshwater inundation on tropical shores S.G. DUNBAR,1,2 M. COATES1 AND A. KAY3 1School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Qld 4702, Australia 2CRC for Coastal Zone, Estuary and Waterway Management,Indooroopilly, Qld 4068, Australia (present address: Marine Biology, Graduate School of Natural Sciences, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, Ca. 92350, USA [email protected]) 3Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, PO Box 3130, Rockhampton Shopping Fair, Qld 4701, Australia Abstract Dunbar, S.G., Coates, M., and Kay, A. 2003. Marine hermit crabs as indicators of freshwater inundation on tropical shores. In: Lemaitre, R., and Tudge, C.C. (eds), Biology of the Anomura. Proceedings of a symposium at the Fifth International Crustacean Congress, Melbourne, Australia, 9–13 July 2001. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 60(1): 27–34. The marine hermit crabs, Clibanarius taeniatus (H. Milne-Edwards, 1848) and C. virescens (Krauss, 1843) are com- mon rocky intertidal species along the coast of Queensland, Australia. Laboratory experiments in dilute (8‰) seawater at 15°, 25° and 35°C over an extended period (up to 77 h) showed that C. taeniatus had significantly better survival than C. virescens. In extended exposure to a low salinity, estuarine environment C. taeniatus also survived significantly bet- ter than C. virescens. Repeated sampling at selected sites revealed that a site with no freshwater influence maintained a low percentage of C. taeniatus and high percentage of C. virescens, while at a site influenced by regular, low level fresh- water runoff, the percentage of C. taeniatus remained high. A survey of the Queensland coast, showed that C. virescens tended to be more dominant on open coasts uninfluenced by freshwater, while C. taeniatus tended to be more abundant in areas influenced by freshwater. These two species therefore are a convenient indicator system for the influence of freshwater on tropical intertidal rocky shores and may therefore constitute an important management tool in areas experiencing coastal development with concomitant storm water runoff into marine habitats. Keywords Crustacea, Anomura, hermit crab, Diogenidae, Clibanarius taeniatus, Clibanarius virescens, salinity, tropical, temperature Introduction only rarely. A convenient indicator system able to detect effects of episodic freshwater runoff into marine habitats would be Intense coastal development that has been typical of temperate useful in assessing the impacts of installations such as storm regions, is now increasing in the tropical regions of the globe water drains. (Johannes and Betzer, 1975; Vernberg, 1981). Coastal develop- Ward (2000: 436) defined environmental indicators as ment can result in a range of pollutants being discharged into “measurable variables that track changes in important ele- coastal habitats. Examples are untreated, or partially treated ments, functions or issues in the environment, uses of natural sewage, chemical effluent from a variety of industrial sources resources, or management of the environment.” Indicators and storm water runoff from residential areas. This last source should be simple, direct and easy to interpret if they are to be of pollution is of increasing importance in tropical areas exper- used in large scale reporting (Ward, 2000). Further, an indi- iencing extensive residential development in the coastal zone. cator needs to be specific to the type of pollution concerned. Many tropical areas are subject to episodes of heavy rainfall. It There is a long history of the use of marine invertebrates as is well known that during floods, unusually large volumes of indicators of the presence and intensity of pollution (Reish, freshwater runoff from rivers can have severe impacts on 1972). For example, an increase in the abundance of the poly- marine habitats, particularly intertidal habitats (Goodbody, chaete Capitella capitata (Fabricius, 1780) has been shown to 1961; Fotheringham, 1975; Coates, 1992; Forbes and Cyrus, indicate pollution (probably increased nitrates and phosphates) 1992; Van Woesik et al., 1995). Thus, fresh water itself may act from domestic outfalls (Filice, 1954; Kitamori and Funae, as a pollutant in the sense of having detrimental effects on 1959, 1960; Reish, 1959; Kitamori, 1963; Bellan, 1967). marine habitats. Artificial drainage systems tend to concentrate Imposex in marine gastropods is an indicator of the antifouling storm water runoff from residential areas into a few points. agent Tributyltin (Bright and Ellis, 1989; Stickle et al., 1990; Storm water drains can cause episodic inundation by fresh Nias, 1991; Nias et al., 1993). Filter feeding oysters and water, lasting for several days or weeks, in areas that would not mussels are often used as indicators of lipid-soluble pollutants normally experience freshwater runoff, or would experience it 28 S.G. Dunbar, M. Coates and A. Kay in the marine environment (Riedel et al., 1995; Chen et al., Fifteen individuals of each species were randomly selected 1996; Al-Madfa et al., 1998). and individually placed in 250 ml perspex chambers in 50 ml Hermit crabs are common in tropical intertidal areas of the of 8‰ sea water diluted with distilled, deionised water. The 30 world and occupy the empty shells of marine gastropods (e.g. test chambers were then placed into a constant temperature Ball and Haig, 1974; Fotheringham, 1975; Abrams, 1981; water bath to maintain a treatment temperature of 15°, 25° or Gherardi, 1990; Gherardi and Nardone, 1997; Barnes, 1997). 35° ± 1.0°C. Controls at each temperature were carried out with However, unlike the original gastropod owner of the shell, they 15 individuals of each species in 36‰. At irregular intervals are unable to completely seal off the aperture of the shell in throughout the experiment, hermit crabs were observed for times of environmental stress, such as dilution of seawater by signs of life. Individuals that did not respond to slight chamber fresh water. These factors may make hermit crabs better indi- shaking or abdominal prodding by movement of the pereopods, cators of changes occurring in intertidal conditions and com- antennules or maxillipeds, were considered dead and removed munity structures than snails, clams and oysters which can from the chamber. The interval in which each hermit crab died temporarily seal out unfavourable changes in surrounding con- was recorded. ditions (Gilles, 1972; Vermeij, 1993; Willmer et al., 2000; and Estuarine translocation. Clibanarius taeniatus and C. virescens see review by Underwood, 1979). Further, hermit crabs, like were collected from a common intertidal area without respect many other decapods, tend to have a limited capacity for to size, shell species or sex. Crabs were transported to the osmotic regulation. Consequently, they are vulnerable to control and experimental sites in the estuary of the Fitzroy osmotic stress caused by freshwater inundation resulting in the River, Rockhampton in an open container in approximately 2 L dilution of sea water. Species, however, may differ in their tol- of 36‰ water. Upstream treatment sites were chosen that pro- erance to dilution of their blood and body fluids, and therefore, vided prolonged exposure to a range of dilute sea water from in their survival during episodes of freshwater inundation. It is 7–13‰. Control sites farther downstream were chosen to pro- rather surprising then, that scientific investigations into the use vide prolonged exposure to a range of approximately 27–34‰. of hermit crabs as indicators of ecological health are limited to At the treatment sites chambers made of PVC pipe and con- a single study by Lyla and Ajmal Khan (1996) who used the taining either six of each species, or 12 of one species of vari- estuarine hermit crab, Clibanarius longitarsus (De Haan, 1849) able size, shell species and sex were randomly assigned to as an indicator of changes in heavy metals (iron and man- seven concrete blocks. Each block had three chambers attached ganese) in the Vellar estuary, India, over a period of one year. to it. Chambers were kept just below the surface of the water by Lyla et al. (1998) are the only authors, to our knowledge, that securing them to the top one metre of a length of rope tied to a have proposed the use of hermit crabs as test organisms for concrete block on one end, and a Styrofoam buoy on the other. detecting environmental impacts. Hermit crabs were exposed to experimental conditions for 48 h Clibanarius taeniatus and C. virescens are closely related (repetition 1) and 28 h (repetition 2). The time of exposure for species of intertidal hermit crabs common to rocky shores of repetition 2 was reduced in an effort to increase the number of tropical eastern Australia. Preliminary observations indicated animals surviving. The total number of chambers initially that although the two species have overlapping distributions established for the two repetitions was 42, however, seven (Dunbar, 2001), C. virescens dominates open coast areas not chambers were lost during the course of the experiment. At normally influenced by fresh water while C. taeniatus was the control site, four blocks with three chambers each were more common in areas influenced by fresh water. The present initially established as for the treatment sites, giving 12 con- study was undertaken to document the differences in distribu- trol chambers. One control chamber was lost during the tion of the two species and to determine if the species differ in experiment. their tolerance of osmotic stress. On the basis of the findings of Upon retrieval of the chambers, each group of crabs was this study we argue that these two species can serve as an indi- placed in a bath of 36‰ sea water and given approximately 3 cator system for the detection of changes that may occur in min to revive. Each individual was inspected for signs of life rocky intertidal environments caused by storm water runoff (as described above).
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