Behavior and growth of the land crab Gecarcinus lateralis (Fréminville) in southern Florida. Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 160, article 2

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Date

1978

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Journal ISSN

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Publisher

New York : American Museum of Natural History

DOI

DOI

Abstract

"Studies on the behavior of the land crab Gecarcinus lateralis (Fréminville, 1835) were made on a tract of land at Sabal Point, just north of Boca Raton Inlet, Florida. A portion of this tract is a tropical coastal hammock, one of the few remaining among the east coast of Florida. The thick vegetation of the hammock forms a canopy under which environmental conditions are such as to support a dense population of G. lateralis. Here the crabs can be seen outside of their burrows during hours of daylight; such behavior is unusual in this species. At Sabal Point, information has been gathered on type of vegetation used as food and cover by G. lateralis and on activity of this crab. A photographic record of mating has been obtained. Observations indicate that ovigerous females of this species move down the beaches to the ocean to release their young, and young crabs come up these beaches as they begin life on land. Since all stages of growth were available at Sabal Point, we were able to study some parameters of relative growth in G. lateralis"--P. 115.

Description

p. 113-151 : ill., map ; 26 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 149-151).

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