Feeding Habits of Percnon gibbesi (H. Milne Edwards, 1853) in the Sicily Strait |
| |
Authors: | V. Puccio M. Relini E. Azzurro L. Orsi Relini |
| |
Affiliation: | (1) Laboratori di Biologia Marina ed Ecologia Animale, Dip.Te.Ris., Dipartimento per lo studio del Territorio e delle sue Risorse, Università di Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, Italy;(2) Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”, via Tor Vergata 135, 00133 Roma, Italy |
| |
Abstract: | The subtropical grapsid crab Percnon gibbesi (H. Milne Edwards, 1853) is one of the most recent alien decapods found in the Mediterranean, where it was discovered at Linosa (Pelagie Islands, Sicily Strait) in summer 1999. At present, the invasion of this species has been recorded in several other insular localities. We studied the feeding habits of the crab in an attempt to understand its success in the Mediterranean. The morphological characteristics of the chela, the feeding adaptations of the gastric mill and the analysis of stomach contents indicate that P. gibbesi is a strictly herbivorous species, a characteristic not shared with any other large-sized infralittoral Mediterranean crab. |
| |
Keywords: | Percnon gibbesi Grapsidae alien species Mediterranean |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|