Sexual conflict in the hermit crab Pagurus nigrofascia: Female avoidance of male initiation of precopulatory guarding

• Published in: CANCER (Tokyo) 2019-08 (28), p.7-15
• Main Authors: Kido, Yuina, Iyoda, Tomomi, Yasuda, Chiaki-I, Wada, Satoshi
• Format: Article
• Language: Japanese
• Subjects: Aquatic crustaceans; Pagurus nigrofascia; Sexual behaviour
• ISSN: 0918-1989
• DOI: 10.18988/cancer.28.0_7

This paper described female guarding avoidance behaviors against precopulatory guarding attempts by males and examines the effect of the number of days until female prenuptial molting on rejection behaviors in the hermit crab Pagurus nigrofascia. We used three types of females in an experiment; (1) ovigerous females (OV-female), (2) females which had not been guarded in the field (NG-female), and (3) females which had been guarded by other males in the field (G-female). We placed a male that had been solitary and a female of either type in a small container, observed the interaction, and compared the female behaviors among the three types of female. The frequencies of retreat and escape from approaching male were highest in OV-females, and lowest in G-females. During male assessment behaviors of females, frequencies of struggle and escape in OV- and G-females were higher than NG-females. 33 of 51 G-females were guarded by males although OV- and NG-females were rarely guarded by males. Many G-females showed rejection behavior during male guarding. However, no significant effect was found in the number of days until the female prenuptial molt on the frequencies of rejection behavior.