Showing papers on "Uca pugilator published in 1987"
TL;DR: The antigen demonstrated by immunocytochemistry is identical or very similar to one of the known PDHs, which is coincident with a zone of biological activity.
Abstract: A high-liter antiserum has been obtained from two rabbits immunized with a glutaraldehyde conjugate of synthetic pigment-dispersing hormone (PDH) from Uca pugilator and bovine thyroglobulin. The antiserum blocked melanophore-dispersing activity of the peptide in vivo. In sinus glands (SG) of Carcinus maenas, Cancer pagurus, Uca pugilator and Orconectes limosus, electron-microscopic immunocytochemistry revealed sparsely distributed axon endings containing a distinct PDH-immunoreactive type of neurosecretory granules (diameter 90–130 nm). Exocytotic figures indicating release of the content of these granules into hemolymph lacunae were occasionally observed. Preservation of fine structure and antigenicity of the PDH granules were markedly dependent on the fixation procedure used. A preliminary experiment with C. maenas showed that preterminal axon dilatations near the basal lamina seemed to accumulate PDH-granules when animals were kept in complete darkness for three days. Immunodot blotting of fractions after high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) of extracts from SGs of C. maenas and O. limosus revealed a strongly immunoreactive substance at a retention time very similar to those of synthetic PDHs of Uca pugilator and Pandalus borealis. It is also coincident with a zone of biological activity. Thus, the antigen demonstrated by immunocytochemistry is identical or very similar to one of the known PDHs.
161 citations
TL;DR: The reproductive behavior of the fidder crab Uca beebei is studied at a site on the Pacific coast of Panama and it is found that this species exhibits both of these major modes of mating and breeding.
Abstract: Fiddler crabs have been divided into species that mate and breed in burrows that males court from and defend (e.g., Uca pugilator), and species in which crabs pair on the surface and females breed in their own burrows (e.g., Uca vocans). I studied the reproductive behavior of the fidder crab Uca beebei at a site on the Pacific coast of Panama and found that this species exhibits both of these major modes of mating and breeding. Some females mated on the surface near burrows which they defended and used for oviposition and incubation. This may occur when females are large enough to defend their burrows successfully, when their burrows are suitable breeding sites, and when food is abundant nearby. Other females left their burrows, sampled the burrows of several courting males, then chose mates and breeding sites by remaining in males' burrows. These females did not select mates on the basis of size, nor did they prefer males that built pillars by their burrows. They consistently chose males whose burrows were longer (by 8%) and deeper (by 12%) than those they rejected. Long deep burrows may provide better thermal environments for incubation than short shallow ones.
80 citations
TL;DR: This study provides the first direct chemical evidence for the structural relatedness of insect PDF to the crustacean PDHs, thus identifying them as an authentic family of arthropod peptides.
79 citations
TL;DR: The production of deformities in the regenerated limbs was the most sensitive response and is consistent with findings in other groups of organisms, in which TBT also produces morphological abnormalities.
Abstract: Treatment of fiddler crabs,Uca pugilator, with levels of tributyltin (TBT) as low as 0.5 μg/L during limb regeneration resulted in a retardation of the regenerative growth and a delay in ecdysis at the end of the regeneration process. Limbs regenerated in the presence of TBT showed a variety of deformities, primarily a curved appearance. This was particularly apparent in regenerated chelae, in which the dactyl curved away from, rather than towards, the pollex. The number of setae was reduced in limbs that regenerated in TBT, compared to those that regenerated in clean sea water. Those that regenerated in clean sea water had a reduced number of setae in comparison to intact limbs. The production of deformities in the regenerated limbs was the most sensitive response and is consistent with findings in other groups of organisms, in which TBT also produces morphological abnormalities.
53 citations
TL;DR: The use of morphometric data as a guide to reproductive maturity in the ghost crab Ocypode ceratophthalmus (Pallas) (Brachyura, Ocypodidae) and 'Right handedness' in the heterochelous calappoid and xanthoid crabs suggestion for a functional advantage is suggested.
Abstract: Barnwell, F. H., 1982. The prevalence of male right-handedness in the Indo-west Pacific fid dler crabs Uca vocans (Linnaeus) and U. tetragonon (Herbst) (Decapoda: Ocypodidae). Journ. Crust. Biol., 2: 70-83. Cott, H. B., 1929. Observations on the natural history of the racing-crab Ocypode ceratophthalma, from Beira. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1929: 755-765. Crane, J., 1941. On the growth and ecology of brachyuran crabs of the genus Ocypode. Zool?gica, N. Y., 26: 297-310. -, 1967. Combat and its ritualization in fiddler crabs (Ocypodidae) with special reference to Uca rapax (Smith). Zool?gica, N.Y., 52 (3): 49-76. -, 1975. Fiddler crabs of the world (Ocypodidae: genus Uca): i-xxiii, 1-736. (Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey). Haley, S. R., 1969. Relative growth and sexual maturity of the Texas ghost crab, Ocypode quadrata (Fabr.) (Brachyura, Ocypodidae). Crustaceana, 17: 285-297. -, 1973. On the use of morphometric data as a guide to reproductive maturity in the ghost crab Ocypode ceratophthalmus (Pallas) (Brachyura, Ocypodidae). Pacif. Sei., 27: 350-362. Hamilton, P. V., R. T. Nishimoto & J. G. Halusky, 1976. Cheliped laterality in Callinectes sapidus (Crustacea: Portunidae). Biol. Bull. Woods Hole, 150: 393-401. Hyatt, G. W. & M. Salmon, 1978. Combat in the fiddler crabs Uca pugilator and U. pugnax: a quantitative analysis. Behaviour, 65: 182-211. -&-, 1979. Comparative and statistical analysis of combat in the fiddler crabs, Uca pugilator and Uca pugnax. Behaviour, 68: 1-23. Huxley, J. S., 1931. Notes on differential growth. Amer. Nat., 65: 289-315. Jones, D. S. & R. W. George, 1982. Handedness in fiddler crabs as an aid in grouping of the genus Uca (Decapoda, Ocypodidae). Crustaceana, 43: 100-102. Ng, P. K. L. & L. W. H. Tan, 1985. 'Right handedness' in the heterochelous calappoid and xanthoid crabs suggestion for a functional advantage. Crustaceana, 49: 98-100. Przibram, H., 1931. Connecting laws in animal morphology: 1-62. (University of London Press). Rathbun, M., 1918. The grapsoid crabs of America. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., 97: i-xii, 1-461. Sandon, H., 1937. Differential growth in the crab Ocypoda. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, (A) 107: 397-414. Vermeij, G. J., 1977. Patterns in claw size: the geography of crushing. Syst. Zool., 26: 138-151.
25 citations
TL;DR: It is hypothesized that both neuropeptides methionine enkephalin and FMRFamide, when injected into intact fiddler crabs, act only indirectly on the distal retinal pigment, by stimulating release of this dark-adapting hormone.
Abstract: The neuropeptides methionine enkephalin and FMRFamide, when injected into intact fiddler crabs, Uca pugilator, produce dark adaptation of the distal retinal pigment. Furthermore, both neuropeptides stimulate release of distal retinal pigment dark-adapting hormone activity from the isolated eyestalk neuroendocrine complex. It is hypothesized that both neuropeptides, when injected into intact fiddler crabs, act only indirectly on the distal retinal pigment, by stimulating release of this dark-adapting hormone.
24 citations
TL;DR: The regenerated limbs of the crabs that survived ecdysis were found to have lesions in the form of black areas in which the cuticle was improperly developed, and the number of setae on limbs was reduced compared to the number on limbs that had regenerated in clean sea water.
23 citations
TL;DR: The behavioral effect induced by diflubenzuron (DFB) exposures (>2 μg/L) was the most sensitive indicator of DFB activity and potentially may influence the ability of juvenile crabs to avoid predation, construct burrows, or feed adequately to survive in nature.
Abstract: The effects of repetitive 24-hr weekly exposures to diflubenzuron (Dimilin®) on juvenile fiddler crabs (Uca pugilator) were studied in static seawater systems for 10 weeks. Crabs surviving the 10-week exposure period were maintained in clean seawater until death. Survival, molting, and behavior were monitored daily. The no-effect concentration (NOEC) for molting (time to the first molt), survival (time until death), and behavior (ability to escape from the test container) were 20, 2, and 0.2 μg/L DFB, respectively. The behavioral effect induced by diflubenzuron (DFB) exposures (>2 μg/L) was the most sensitive indicator of DFB activity and potentially may influence the ability of juvenile crabs to avoid predation, construct burrows, or feed adequately to survive in nature.
18 citations
TL;DR: Fiddler crabs,U.
Abstract: Fiddler crabs,Uca pugilator, collected from the field showed no avoidance to burrowing in 1 μg g−1 tributyltin (TBT)-contaminated sand held in laboratory trays. Treatment ofU. pugilator with levels of tributyltin as low as 0.5 μg l−1 for 1–3 wk resulted in an acceleration of the righting reflex in females, indicative of hyperactivity. Crabs of both sexes exhibited a reduction in burrowing activity, as measured by the number of burrows dug at 15 and 60 min after release into laboratory trays containing sand, and by the number of crabs within burrows at those times. The reduction in burrowing activity was not dose-dependent at concentrations of 0.5 to 50 μg l−1, and was unchanged between one and three weeks of exposure. Since fiddler crabs are dependent on burrows for many aspects of their lives, the reduction in burrowing behavior, should it occur in nature, would have serious consequences for the species.
18 citations
TL;DR: The burrowing activity of Uca pugilator in sand in laboratory trays was not altered when the sand was contaminated with 1.0 rng 1-' diflubenzuron (DFB), indicating lack of avoidance of DFB contaminated sand.
Abstract: The burrowing activity of Uca pugilator in sand in laboratory trays was not altered when the sand was contaminated with 1.0 rng 1-' diflubenzuron (DFB), indicating lack of avoidance of DFBcontaminated sand. However, crabs that had been exposed to DFB concentrations as low as 0.5 pg 1-' for 1 wk or more exhibited a reduction in burrowing activity, as measured by the number of burrows dug at 15 and 60 min after release and the number of crabs within burrows at those times. The reduction in burrowing activity was not concentration-dependent between 0.5 and 50 pg I-' DFB, and was unchanged between 1 and 3 wk of exposure to the pesticide. Since fiddler crabs are dependent on burrows for many aspects of their lives, the reduction of this behavior may have serious consequences for the species.
6 citations