Use of energy reserves in fighting hermit crabs

When animals engage in fights they face a series of decisions, which are based on the value of the contested resource and either their relative or their absolute fighting ability. Certain correlates of fighting ability or 'resource holding potential' such as body size are fixed but physiol...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2004-02, Vol.271 (1537), p.373-379
Main Authors: Briffa, Mark, Elwood, Robert W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggression
Agonistic Behavior - physiology
Analysis of Variance
Animals
Anomura - metabolism
Anomura - physiology
Crabs
Decapoda
Energy Metabolism - physiology
Fight
Glucose
Glucose - metabolism
Glycogen
Glycogen - metabolism
Hermit Crab
Hermit crabs
Lactates
Liquid nitrogen
Marine
Mating behavior
Mobilization
Muscle tissues
Muscle, Skeletal - metabolism
Northern Ireland
Personal computers
Seawater
Sound intensity
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Summary:When animals engage in fights they face a series of decisions, which are based on the value of the contested resource and either their relative or their absolute fighting ability. Certain correlates of fighting ability or 'resource holding potential' such as body size are fixed but physiological correlates are expected to vary during the encounter. We examine the role of energy reserves in determining fight outcomes and parameters during 'shell fighting' in hermit crabs. During these fights, the two contestants perform very different roles of attacker and defender. We show that the balance of the total energy pool, in the form of glucose and glycogen, determines the ability of defenders to resist eviction from their shells. Low glucose in evicted defenders is not caused by depletion of energy reserves, rather mobilization of glycogen appears to be the result of a strategic decision about whether to resist effectively, based on the perceived fighting ability of the attacker. Attackers, however, always initiate the fight so such a decision for this role appears unlikely. In addition to influencing decisions and ability during fights, physiological correlates of fighting ability can in turn be influenced by strategic decisions.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2003.2633