Foraging Ecology of the Blue Crab, Callinectes Sapidus Rathbun, in Lower Chesapeake Bay
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W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1992 Foraging ecology of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, in lower Chesapeake Bay Randa A. Mansour College of William and Mary - Virginia Institute of Marine Science Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Marine Biology Commons, and the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Mansour, Randa A., "Foraging ecology of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, in lower Chesapeake Bay" (1992). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539616761. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25773/v5-6mdx-bb24 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. 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Ann Arbor, MI 48106 FORAGING ECOLOGY OF THE BLUE CRAB, CALLINGCTES SAPIDUS RATHBUN, IN LOWER CHESAPEAKE BAY A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF MARINE SCIENCE THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY IN VIRGINIA In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Randa A. Mansour 1992 APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Randa A. Mansour Approved, August 1992 Roirtuald N. Lipcius, PhTpT Committee Chairman/Advisor ^facqtfes van Montfrans, MvA. Mark W. Luckenbach, Ph.D. Bruce J. Nei^sn, Ph.D. William D. DuPaul, Ph.D. Anson H. Hines, Ph.D. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Edgewater, Maryland ii Dedicated to Brian and Connor Meehan, Marzell Deans and to the memory of Doris Deans. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................... vii LIST OF T A B L E S .............................................. viii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................... xii CHAPTER 1 FORAGING AND PREY SELECTION............................ 1 ABSTRACT ................................................... 2 INTRODUCTION ................................................ 4 THE PREDATOR-PREY COMPLEX .................................... 7 MATERIALS AND M E T H O D S ...................................... 11 Study S i t e s ............................................... 11 Blue Crab Abundance......................................... 11 Blue Crab D i e t ............................................ 13 Dietary Diversity, Overlap and Selection......................15 Benthic Infaunal Abundance ..... 17 Correlations Between Predator and Prey Abundance ........... 17 Cannibalism ...................................... 19 RESULTS ..................................................... 21 Blue Crab Abundance......................................... 21 Summer 1988................... ......................... 21 Summer 1989............................................. 28 Sampling Requirements For Diet Analysis ..................... 45 Blue Crab Diet: Spatial and Temporal Patterns ............... 48 Summer 1988 48 Summer 1989 54 Blue Crab Diet: Diversity ................................. 63 Summer 1988 63 Summer 1989 63 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Blue Crab Diet: Cannibalism................................. 64 Benthic Infuana Summer 1988 ............................... 76 Benthic Abundance ..................................... 76 Benthic Similarity. ........................ 90 Benthic Infauna Summer 1989 ............................... 99 Benthic Abundance ..................................... 99 Benthic Similarity......................................122 Dietary Overlap and Selection .................... .124 Summer 1988 ........................................... 124 Summer 1989 ................... 127 Predator-Prey Abundance Patterns ........................... 132 DISCUSSION ................................................. 139 Diet Selection ..... ..... .139 Aggregative Response ....................... 141 Cannibalism ................... 144 Predator-Prey Dynamics .... .147 APPENDIX 1 ................................................. ISO APPENDIX 2 ................................................. 151 APPENDIX 3 ................................................. 152 APPENDIX 4 ................................................. 153 APPENDIX 5 ................................................. 155 LITERATURE CITED .............................................. 156 V TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page CHAPTER 2 FUNCTIONAL, AGGREGATIVE AND INTERFERENCE RESPONSES . .164 ABSTRACT .................................................... 165 INTRODUCTION................................................. 167 THE PREDATOR-PREY SYSTEM......................................170 MATERIALS AND METHODS........................................ 172 RESULTS .................................................... 175 DISCUSSION ................................................. 181 LITERATURE C I T E D ........................................... 185 VITA ....................................................... 190 Vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my major professor, R. N. Lipcius, for his support and guidance; he was always available and willing to assist, advise and support my endeavors. I am deeply grateful. I also thank my other committee members, A.H. Hines, J. van Montfrans, M. Luckenback, W. Dupaul, and B. Neilson, for constructive reviewB of this manuscript. Field support was provided by J. Colvocoresses, D. Eggleston, P. Geer, P. Gerdes, D. King, T. Leggett, J. Luo, W. Meehan, K. Metcalfe, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science Trawl Survey Project. C. Bonzek and R. Harris provided access to VIMS Trawl Survey data, and were very supportive of this research. Critical reviews of portions of this dissertation were provided by D. Eggleston, R. Mann, C.H. Peterson, J. Sutherland and D. Sved. Laboratory space for gut contents analyses was generously provided by Benthic Ecology, R. Diaz and L. Schaffner. R. Diaz, L. Schaffner, R. Seitz, and R. Llanso aided with identification of species collected from the benthos. I thank my dear friends N. Balcolm, L. Granger, Rosemary Lipcius, Otto and Margie Matherny, K. Metcalfe, L. Schaffner, and G. Vadas for their support. This work waB supported by funds from the National Science Foundation (Biological Oceanography Grants OCE 87-00414 to R. Lipcius & A.H. Hines, and OCE 90-00483 to A.H. Hines, R. Lipcius, T. Wolcott and D. Wolcott), VIMS Minor Research Grants Program, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Smithsonian Institution, and a generous contribution by L.L. Glucksman. vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1.1 Analysis of variance and Ryan's Q results for total crab abundance in 1 9 8 8 ..................................... 23 1.2 Analysis of variance and Ryan's Q results for abundance of crabs > 80 mm CW in 1988 ............................ 25 1.3 Analysis of variance and Ryan's Q results for abundance of crabs £ 80 mm CW in 1988 ............................ 26 1.4 Analysis of variance and Ryan's Q results for abundance of crabs < 50 mm CW in 1988 ............................ 29 1.5 Analysis of variance and Ryan's Q results for total crab abundance in 1989.. .............. .. .................... 33 1.6 Analysis of variance for abundance of crabs > 80 mm CW in 1989................................................... 34 1.7 Lower-level analysis of variance, river and station within month, and Ryan's Q results for abundance of crabs > 80 mm CW in 1989.............................................. 35 1.8 Lower-level analysis of variance, river and month within station, and Ryan's Q results for abundance of crabs > 80 mm CW in 1989............................................. 39 1.9