Diversity and abundance of mangrove fiddle crabs, genus Uca (Decapoda, Ocypodidae) at a mangrove in Kema, North Sulawesi
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Diversity and abundance of mangrove fiddle crabs, genus Uca (Decapoda, Ocypodidae) at a mangrove in Kema, North Sulawesi, Indonesia RIANTA Pratiwi1*, ERNAWATI Widyastuti1, CHEN Guangcheng2, CHEN Shunyang2 1 Research Center for Oceanography, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jakarta 14430, Indonesia 2 Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen 361005, China
Received 15 June 2017; accepted 12 March 2018 © Chinese Society for Oceanography and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract
Mangrove ecosystems are sites with high biodiversity of benthic fauna, and fiddler crabs (genus Uca) are common benthic fauna in mangroves. The North Sulawesi in Indonesia has a good condition of mangrove while the information of the fiddler crabs is still limited. Manual samplings were conducted in wet, dry and transient seasons at a mangrove in Kema, North Sulawesi to investigate the species composition, density and distribution pattern of fiddler crabs. A total of 168 individuals, subjected to eight species of genus Uca crabs were collected at the mangrove, with U. triangularis having the highest abundance and U. annulipes having the lowest abundance. The densities of fiddle crabs were 27.56 ind./m2, 32.89 ind./m2 and 14.22 ind./m2 at the seaward, middle and landward zones, respectively, and the density was higher in dry and wet seasons than in transient season. Key words: Crustacea, genus Uca, species, mangrove, North Sulawesi, Indonesia Citation: Rianta Pratiwi, Ernawati Widyastuti, Chen Guangcheng, Chen Shunyang. 2018. Diversity and abundance of mangrove fiddle crabs, genus Uca (Decapoda, Ocypodidae) at a mangrove in Kema, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 37(12): 92–96, doi: 10.1007/s13131-018-1336-8
1 Introduction Mangrove ecosystems support a high biodiversity of benthic fauna because they provide organic matter and nutrients critical to the benthic fauna, and contribute to habitat complexity of the fauna community (Hutchings and Saenger, 1987; Chen et al., 2008). One of the benthic fauna groups which well adapts to the intertidal environment is the fiddler crabs (genus Uca) belonging to Ocypodid crabs. They form an important brachyuran component worldwide in the intertidal flats, especially where near mangrove forest in the tropical and subtropical regions (Sari, 2004; Zeil et al., 2006; Barnes, 2010; Naderloo et al., 2010). Numerous Uca spp. species have been found in a rich abundance in the mangrove habitats (Crane, 1975; Shih et al., 1999). Crane (1975) recognized a total of 59 Uca spp. species around the world; however, according to recent studies (Rosenberg, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2014; Beinlich and von Hagen, 2006; Ng et al., 2008; Barnes, 2010; Nabout et al., 2010), there are more than 100 Uca spp. species. Most Uca spp. species were reported to be restricted within certain biotopes, because their diversity and abundance (especially those burrowing species) are strongly influenced by environmental factors such as the soil particle size, soil humidity,
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