Research Output
Microhabitat use of early stage mud crabs, Scylla serrata (Forskal, 1775), in Eastern Australia.
  The mud crab Scylla serrata (Forskål, 1775) (Portunidae) is a commercial species in the Indo-West-Pacific. Despite its high fishery value, the microhabitat of its early juvenile stages remains unknown. We studied microhabitat use by the ‘early benthic stage’ (EBS, between 3 and 30 mm carapace width, CW) at two sites in eastern Australia by two types of artificial benthic collectors and baited traps. 92% of EBS mud crabs were captured in muddy areas, compared to 8% on sandy habitats. The majority of the EBS mud crabs (87%) was found in intertidal areas within the mangrove fringe, only few individuals (13%) were found on unvegetated mud flats seawards to the mangroves. EBS from the mudflat (including first instars of 3-4 mm CW) were significantly smaller (p

  • Type:

    Article

  • Date:

    01 September 2014

  • Publication Status:

    Published

  • Publisher

    Brill Academic Publishers

  • DOI:

    10.1163/1937240X-00002256

  • ISSN:

    0278-0372

  • Library of Congress:

    QH301 Biology

Citation

Alberts-Hubatsch, H., Lee, S. Y., Diele, K., Wolff, M., & Nordhaus, I. (2014). Microhabitat use of early stage mud crabs, Scylla serrata (Forskal, 1775), in Eastern Australia. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 34(5), 604-610. https://doi.org/10.1163/1937240X-00002256

Authors

Keywords

recruitment; early benthic stage (EBS); nursery; post-settlement movement; settlement habitat

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