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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Artificial benthic collectors have been widely used for the assessment of settlement rates of decapod
crustaceans. However, to date no consistent works have addressed spatial patterns of settlement in different
estuarine habitats, and no specific studies targeted the interaction of artificial surfaces with the surrounding
natural substrate. It may be expected that the artificial surface may produce a different thigmotactic
response when compared to the natural substrate, which may limit the use of this technique for assessment
of natural settlement rates. In this study the settlement rates of megalopae of the estuarine crab Carcinus
maenas were addressed, specifically deploying artificial benthic collectors in different habitats both intertidal
and subtidal in the lower Mira estuary. A number of experiments were performed concerning stratification
and temporal fluctuations of settlement. Further, the interaction of collector surface with the
surrounding substrate was investigated, by comparing settlement rates in natural and artificial substrates in
different habitats. Results have shown significant differences in settlement between different estuarine
habitats, both in spatially replicated experiments and in a high-resolution temporal experiment. However,
comparison between settlement rates in artificial and natural substrates has shown that there is a strong
interference between collectors and surrounding substrate, limiting interpretation of results concerning
settlement rates in artificial substrate alone.
Description
Keywords
Megalopae Settlement Artificial collectors Spatial patterns Carcinus maenas Mira estuary
Citation
Hydrobiologia, 557, 69-77