Hermit crabs (Pagurus spp.) at their northernmost range: distribution, abundance and shell use in the European Arctic

Polar research

Maria Włodarska-Kowalczuk¹  Monika Kędra²  Piotr Kuklinski³  Joanna Legeżyńska³  David Barnes³  Jan Marcin Węsławski³  Piotr Balazy⁴ 

[1] Department of Life SciencesNatural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK;British Antarctic SurveyMadingley Road, High Cross, Cambridge CB3 OET, UK;Marine Ecology DepartmentInstitute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstancow Warszawy 55, PL-81-712 Sopot, Poland;Marine Ecology DepartmentInstitute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstancow Warszawy 55, PL-81-712 Sopot, PolandCorrespondence

关键词: Hermit crabs;    Svalbard;    Arctic;    fjords;   

DOI  :  10.3402/polar.v34.21412

学科分类：自然科学（综合）

来源: Co-Action Publishing

【 摘 要 】

Hermit crabs are important components of Arctic benthic systems, yet baseline data on their densities and distribution patterns in this rapidly changing region are still scarce. Here we compile results of numerous research expeditions to Svalbard, the Barents Sea and northern Norway that were carried out from 1979 to 2011 by the Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences. The diversity of hermit crabs at the northern edge of their occurrence is very low; in Svalbard waters only one species (Pagurus pubescens) was detected. Another species (P. bernhardus), found in northern mainland Norway, north of the Arctic Circle, is likely to extend its distribution northward as the climate warms. Where the two species co-occur, competition between them probably accounts for the smaller sizes and poorer quality shells used by P. pubescens. The composition of the mollusc shells inhabited by these crabs differs between northern Norway and Svalbard, reflecting local mollusc species pools. Hermit crab densities w...

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC