Age-biased stranding and righting in male horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus
Age-biased stranding and righting in male horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus
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DOI：
10.1016/0003-3472(95)90074-8
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发表时间：
1995-06
期刊：
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
D. Penn;H. Brockmann
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
D. Penn;H. Brockmann
雄性马蹄蟹有两种交配策略：一些上岸后依附在雌性身上，而另一些则保持单身，聚集在海滩上筑巢的成对马蹄蟹周围。好处是显而易见的，因为单身男性通过卫星行为释放精子并获得受精，但这种替代交配策略也有成本。马蹄蟹有时会在产卵期间翻倒并搁浅在海滩上，这可能导致干燥或捕食死亡。在某些种群中，例如在进行这项研究的特拉华州湾，大量的马蹄蟹可能在产卵后搁浅在海滩上。大多数翻过来的螃蟹都能很快地用它们的触须把自己扶正，但搁浅的螃蟹却不能。研究结果表明，搁浅是由于两个相互作用的因素，交配策略和扶正能力。首先，单身的雄性比有配偶的雄性更容易搁浅。第二，单身男性的平均年龄比有伴侣的男性大。实验表明，一旦被推翻，老螃蟹比年轻螃蟹更不可能纠正自己。最终，年长的雄性更容易搁浅的原因可能与衰老和寄生有关。
Male horseshoe crabs have two mating tactics: some come ashore attached to females, whereas others remain unattached and crowd around the pairs that are nesting on the beach. The benefits are clear because unattached males release sperm and gain fertilizations by their satellite behaviour, but there are also costs associated with this alternative mating tactic. Horseshoe crabs sometimes become overturned and stranded on beaches during spawning, which can result in death by desiccation or predation. In some populations, such as in the Delaware Bay where this study was conducted, large numbers of horseshoe crabs may be stranded on the beach after spawning. Most overturned crabs right themselves quickly using their telsons, but stranded individuals are unable to do so. The results of this study show that stranding is due to two interacting factors, mating tactic and righting ability. First, unattached males were more likely to strand than attached males. Second, unattached males were, on average, older than attached males. Experiments reveal that once overturned, older crabs were less likely to right themselves than younger ones. Ultimately, the reason that older males are more likely to strand is probably related to senescence and parasitism.