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Bottleneck; nursery habitats; size refuge; habitat complexity; settlement; megalopa; macroalgae; Skagerrak-Kattegat
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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Predation On Postlarvae And Juveniles Of The Shore Crab Carcinus Maenas: Importance Of Shelter, Size And Cannibalism, Po Moksnes, L Pihl, J Van Montfrans
Predation On Postlarvae And Juveniles Of The Shore Crab Carcinus Maenas: Importance Of Shelter, Size And Cannibalism, Po Moksnes, L Pihl, J Van Montfrans
VIMS Articles
Settlement and early juvenile stages are considered a bottleneck in the Life history of many epibenthic organisms because of high predation mortality. Nursery habitats may play an important role in mitigating settlement and post-settlement mortality by providing refuge from predation. We examined these relationships in postlarvae and early juvenile stages of the shore crab Carcinus maenas L. in laboratory and field tethering experiments. We studied habitat and size related habitat mortality using postlarvae and young juvenile crabs as prey, and various predators, including juvenile conspecifics, in several habitats common in shallow (0 to 1 m) soft bottom nursery areas on …