Sound effect on the maternal care behavior of a crab

Abstract

Maternal care in marine decapods encompasses eggs caring until larvae hatching, ensuring healthy embryonic development. The effect of different sound sources (anthropogenic and biologic) and temporal patterns (low- and high- rate) was studied on the maternal care of the key crab species, Neohelice granulata, through laboratory experiments. Three acoustic stimuli were emitted, two anthropogenic: an artificial white noise and motorboat passes obtained from the crabs´ natural habitat; and one biologic: signals from a crabs’ predator (fish). Behavioral variables quantified included: duration of still position and maternal care behaviors. Preliminary findings showed that the high-rate anthropogenic stimuli increased the still position and diminished maternal care behaviors. The predatory stimulus did not affect the still position; although the high- rate temporal emission pattern reduced the maternal care behaviors. The fact that all stimuli affected the maternal care behaviors indicate a negative effect that potentially could affect offspring survival. This is important to consider given the ecosystem engineering function (e.g., burrowing) of the studied key crab species.