Hydraulic activities by ghost shrimp Neotrypaea californiensis induce oxic−anoxic oscillations in sediments

We compared the species composition and abundance of the total nekton community, using the Bray–Curtis similarity coefficient, and mean total nekton, fish and crab species richness, abundance and biomass, and shrimp abundance across four intertidal habitats in a US Pacific Northwest estuary: (i) eelgrass ( Zostera marina ); (ii) burrowing mud shrimp ( Upogebia pugettensis ); (iii) burrowing ghost shrimp ( Neotrypaea californiensis ); and (iv) unvegetated sand. Field sampling was conducted during daytime high tides, and was quantitative, stratified-by-habitat, randomized, and estuary-wide. More than 10 000 nekton specimens belonging to 64 taxa were collected in 454 samples during 10 sampling periods, each approximately one-month-long (from June to November), over 3 years (1998–2000). Non-metric multidimensional scaling analyses revealed annually recurring across-habitat patterns in total nekton Bray–Curtis similarity. Two-way (habitat, year) analyses of variance revealed annually recurring across-habitat patterns on 10 indicators of nekton-habitat quality and preference. Total nekton species richness, abundance, and biomass were, respectively, on average, 8 ×, 25 ×, and 25× greater in eelgrass, 4 ×, 6 ×, and 5× greater in mud shrimp, and 2 ×, 3 ×, and 2× greater in ghost shrimp, than in sand habitat. Our findings validate the ecological relevance of our habitats to nekton, and suggest they can serve as elements in ecological periodic tables of nekton habitat usage.

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Denitrification and Nitrogen Fixation Dynamics in the Area Surrounding an Individual Ghost Shrimp (Neotrypaea californiensis) Burrow System

Applied and Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1128/aem.00114-12 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 78 (11) ◽

pp. 3864-3872 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Victoria J. Bertics ◽

Jill A. Sohm ◽

Cara Magnabosco ◽

Wiebke Ziebis

Keyword(s):

Field Studies ◽

Clear Correlation ◽

Burrow System ◽

Sediment Depth ◽

Fixed Nitrogen ◽

Patchy Distribution ◽

Content Type ◽

Ghost Shrimp ◽

Neotrypaea Californiensis ◽

Very High

ABSTRACTBioturbated sediments are thought of as areas of increased denitrification or fixed-nitrogen (N) loss; however, recent studies have suggested that not all N may be lost from these environments, with some N returning to the system via microbial dinitrogen (N2) fixation. We investigated denitrification and N2fixation in an intertidal lagoon (Catalina Harbor, CA), an environment characterized by bioturbation by thalassinidean shrimp (Neotrypaea californiensis). Field studies were combined with detailed measurements of denitrification and N2fixation surrounding a single ghost shrimp burrow system in a narrow aquarium (15 cm by 20 cm by 5 cm). Simultaneous measurements of both activities were performed on samples taken within a 1.5-cm grid for a two-dimensional illustration of their intensity and distribution. These findings were then compared with rate measurements performed on bulk environmental sediment samples collected from the lagoon. Results for the aquarium indicated that both denitrification and N2fixation have a patchy distribution surrounding the burrow, with no clear correlation to each other, sediment depth, or distance from the burrow. Field denitrification rates were, on average, lower in a bioturbated region than in a seemingly nonbioturbated region; however, replicates showed very high variability. A comparison of denitrification field results with previously reported N2fixation rates from the same lagoon showed that in the nonbioturbated region, depth-integrated (10 cm) denitrification rates were higher than integrated N2fixation rates (∼9 to 50 times). In contrast, in the bioturbated sediments, depending on the year and bioturbation intensity, some (∼6.2%) to all of the N lost via denitrification might be accounted for via N2fixation.

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Metabolic depression is delayed and mitochondrial impairment averted during prolonged anoxia in the ghost shrimp, Lepidophthalmus louisianensis (Schmitt, 1935)

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology ◽

10.1016/j.jembe.2009.06.008 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 376 (2) ◽

pp. 85-93 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Jeremy D. Holman ◽

Steven C. Hand

Keyword(s):

Metabolic Depression ◽

Ghost Shrimp ◽

Mitochondrial Impairment ◽

Lepidophthalmus Louisianensis

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Population dynamics of the pea crab Austinixa aidae (Brachyura, Pinnotheridae): a symbiotic of the ghost shrimp Callichirus major (Thalassinidea, Callianassidae) from the southwestern Atlantic

Iheringia Série Zoologia ◽

10.1590/s0073-47212011000100001 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 101 (1-2) ◽

pp. 5-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Douglas F Peiró ◽

Fernando L Mantelatto

Keyword(s):

Population Dynamics ◽

Sandy Beach ◽

Southwestern Atlantic ◽

Recruitment Pattern ◽

Size Frequency Distribution ◽

Ghost Shrimp ◽

Density Values ◽

Pea Crab ◽

Biological Aspects ◽

The Mean

The Pinnotheridae family is one of the most diverse and complex groups of brachyuran crabs, many of them symbionts of a wide variety of invertebrates. The present study describes the population dynamics of the pea crab Austinixa aidae (Righi, 1967), a symbiont associated with the burrows of the ghost shrimp Callichirus major (Say, 1818). Individuals (n = 588) were collected bimonthly from May, 2005 to September, 2006 along a sandy beach in the southwestern Atlantic, state of São Paulo, Brazil. Our data indicated that the population demography of A. aidae was characterized by a bimodal size-frequency distribution (between 2.0 and 4.0 mm and between 8.0 and 9.0 mm CW) that remained similar throughout the study period. Sex ratio does not differ significantly from 1:1 (p > 0.05), which confirms the pattern observed in other symbiontic pinnotherids. Density values (1.72 ± 1.34 ind. • ap.-1) are in agreement with those found for other species of the genus. The mean symbiosis incidence (75.6%) was one of the highest among species of the Pinnotheridae family, but it was the lowest among the three studied species of the genus. Recruitment pattern was annual, beginning in May and peaking in July, in both years, after the peak of ovigerous females in the population (from March to May). Our findings describe ecological and biological aspects of A. aidae similar to those of other species of this genus, even from different geographic localities.

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Comparative Larval Development in Two Species of the Burrowing Ghost Shrimp Genus Lepidophthalmus (Decapoda: Callianassidae)

Journal of Crustacean Biology ◽

10.2307/1549444 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 497-519 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Sergio F. Nates ◽

Darryl L. Felder ◽

Rafael Lemaitre

Keyword(s):

Larval Development ◽

Ghost Shrimp

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