MONTHLY REPRODUCTIVE CYCLES IN THREE SYMPATRIC HOOD-BUILDING TROPICAL FIDDLER CRABS (GENUS UCA)

¹ Department of Biology, Box 3AF, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003

1. The degree of synchrony with which three tropical fiddler crabs, Uca musica terpsichores, U. latimanus and U. beebei, perform courtship, feeding and hood-building activities was studied.

2. Courtship activities cycled on a monthly basis. Significantly more males of all three species courted during the week of the full moon when compared to the week of the new moon. Virtually no courtship occurred around the quarter moon periods. During peak courtship periods, 78% or more of the males of each species were displaying at the same time.

3. Hood-building also peaked around the full moon and was performed only by courting males. Only a small percentage of courting U. beebei males built hoods, while virtually every courting U. latimanus male possessed one. An intermediate number of U. musica terpsichores built hoods.

4. Almost all of the observed females were feeding. Wandering females (presumably sexually receptive) were observed almost exclusively during the same low tide hours in which males were courting.

5. Both males and females, therefore, appear to be synchronizing and concentrating their reproductive activities to the full-moon period.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. H. Christy, P. R. Y. Backwell, S. Goshima, and T. Kreuter Sexual selection for structure building by courting male fiddler crabs: an experimental study of behavioral mechanisms Behav. Ecol., May 1, 2002; 13(3): 366 - 374. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]