Macropthalmus sulcatus, H.Milne Edwards, 1852

Bom, Roeland A. & Ebbinge, Maaike, 2022, Simple and complex burrow morphology in two Macrophthalmus species on the intertidal mudflats of Barr Al Hikman, Sultanate of Oman, Journal of Natural History 56 (5 - 8), pp. 475-485 : 479

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00222933.2022.2093679

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7015555

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/2549A250-A833-FFAF-15A2-0BAAED543265

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Macropthalmus sulcatus
status

 

Macropthalmus sulcatus

All casted and excavated burrows of M. sulcatus were single tunnelled ( Figure 3 View Figure 3 ). The casted burrows showed one or two sharp curves at the beginning, with no specific direction, after which the tunnel continued in one direction. The end of each burrow consisted of a small pool of water in which, in all but one cast, a single crab was entombed by the plaster. The mean length of the casted burrows was 21.3 cm (Standard Deviation [SD] ± 5.2; range 11.2–26.6 cm) and the mean depth was 10.3 cm (SD ± 1.5; range 8.3– 12.5 cm). In one of the casted burrows two relatively large crabs were found: a male and a female ( Figure 4 View Figure 4 ). In total 24 crabs were entombed or captured, of which we identified 13 as males and 11 as females. There was a positive relation between burrow size at entrance and the carapace width of the crab caught inside (t = 8.972, P <0.01, R2 = 0.79; Figure 4 View Figure 4 ). The regression equation was Y ¼ 4: 51 þ 1:16 X.

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