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Seasonal change in sexual size dimorphism of the major cheliped in the hermit crab Pagurus minutus

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Ecological Research

Abstract

Sexual size dimorphism is a common phenomenon in the animal kingdom, and its seasonal change has been reported in some species that possess traits dimorphic only in males and specialized for male mating success. However, few studies have examined seasonal change in sexual dimorphism of traits possessed by both sexes. Here, we examined the reproductive biology of the hermit crab Pagurus minutus, at a sandflat in the Waka River estuary, Japan, with special reference to seasonal changes in sexual dimorphism of the large claw (major cheliped) size by conducting population and precopulatory guarding-pair sampling. Previous investigation demonstrated that the major cheliped is used as a weapon, and its size, more than body size, determines the winner in male–male contests of this species. We found ovigerous females from November to April, peaking in January, when 80% of females were ovigerous. Sexual size dimorphism of the major cheliped was observed; the degree of dimorphism increased in the reproductive season, when only males possessed an enlarged major cheliped. In addition, in the reproductive season, precopulatory guarding males had a larger body and larger relative size of the major cheliped than did solitary males, although the major cheliped size in guarding males seemed to reach an upper limit. These results suggest that seasonal change in sexual dimorphism of the major cheliped size in P. minutus strongly reflects sexual selection favoring the development of this natural weaponry, and that the degree of the dimorphism might be limited through natural selection.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Hiroaki Tamura for his assistance with the analyses and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Wakayama University, Sakaedani 930, Wakayama, 640-8510, Japan

    Chiaki I. Yasuda, Masaya Otoda, Reiko Nakano, Yuki Takiya & Tsunenori Koga

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  1. Chiaki I. Yasuda
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  2. Masaya Otoda
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  3. Reiko Nakano
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  4. Yuki Takiya
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  5. Tsunenori Koga
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chiaki I. Yasuda.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Compliance with ethical standards

The study was conducted according to the ASAB/ABS guidelines for the ethical treatment of animals. Sample size was minimized throughout the study. Since the species studied is common in tidal flats of Japan and is not endangered, no specific permits were required for this research.

Funding

This study was funded by a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (Grant Number 25-2149 and 15J07721) to CIY.

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Yasuda, C.I., Otoda, M., Nakano, R. et al. Seasonal change in sexual size dimorphism of the major cheliped in the hermit crab Pagurus minutus . Ecol Res 32, 347–357 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-017-1438-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-017-1438-3

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