How resource quality differentially affects motivation and ability to fight in hermit crabs
How resource quality differentially affects motivation and ability to fight in hermit crabs
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DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2010.1418
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发表时间：
2011-02-22
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Elwood, R. W.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Doake, S.;Elwood, R. W.
参赛动物通常会收集有关资源价值的信息，这些信息会影响战斗动机。然而，特定的资源特征可能会改变战斗能力，而不受动机的影响。以寄居蟹为例，我们研究了贝壳质量方面的资源是如何影响战斗动机和能力的。这些螃蟹为争夺贝壳而战，但这些贝壳必须携带，可能会带来阻碍战斗活力的生理成本。我们发现，壳对动机和能力有不同的影响。在非常小的贝壳中的潜在攻击者具有很强的攻击动机，但非但没有增强能力，反而出人意料地很快疲惫不堪，随后在战斗中并不比在较大贝壳中的螃蟹更成功。我们还检查了防御螃蟹是否能从攻击的力度中收集到关于攻击者外壳的信息。当评估了潜在的收益时，防御蟹很快就放弃了，这表明已经收集了这样的信息。然而，没有迹象表明这可能是由于攻击者的活动，信息可能是通过对外壳的目测评估收集的。
Contesting animals typically gather information about the resource value and that information affects fight motivation. However, it is possible that particular resource characteristics alter the ability to fight independently of the motivation. Using hermit crabs, we investigate how the resource in terms of shell quality affects both motivation and ability to fight. These crabs fight for shells, but those shells have to be carried and may impose physiological costs that impede fight vigour. We find that the shell has different effects on motivation and ability. Potential attackers in very small shells were highly motivated to attack but, rather than having enhanced ability, unexpectedly quickly fatigued and subsequently were not more successful in the fights than were crabs in larger shells. We also examined whether defending crabs could gather information about the attacker's shell from the vigour of the attack. Defending crabs gave up quickly when a potential gain had been assessed, indicating that such information had been gathered. However, there was no indication that this could be owing to the activity of the attacker and the information is probably gathered via visual assessment of the shell.