Sand bubbler crabs Scopimera inflata are central place foragers that spend long periods feeding on nutritionally poor surface sediment adjacent to their burrows. Individuals make series of excursions from their burrows usually moving progressively in clockwise or anticlockwise directions so that they feed on areas of “virgin” sediment on successive forages. However, they foraged further from the burrow than was predicted by a model of central place foraging. Foraging crabs were under intense predation pressure from the red-capped plovers Charadrius ruficapillus in the study area. Success rates of plovers in capturing crabs were high. Crabs can escape attacks by retreating back into their burrows but normally waited for less than a minute before recommencing to forage. This may be sufficient to escape a second plover attack because plover waiting times at burrows were only about 10 s in duration.
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1 May 2010
Optimal and Anti-Predator Foraging in the Sand Bubbler Crab Scopimera inflata (Decapoda: Ocypodidae)
Stewart M. Evans,
Jane Prince,
Judy Foster-Smith,
Elizabeth Drew,
Ryan D. Phillips
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Journal of Crustacean Biology
Vol. 30 • No. 2
May 2010
Vol. 30 • No. 2
May 2010
antipredator responses
central place foraging
Charadrius ruficapillus
sand bubbler crab
Scopimera inflata