Influence of environmental factors on the bathymetric distribution of the flecked box crab Hepatus pudibundus (Herbst, 1785) (Crustacea: Aethroidea) in the Southeastern Brazilian coast

• Autor(a) principal: Bernardes, Veronica Pereira [UNESP]
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Outros Autores: Mantelatto, Fernando Luis, Silva, Thiago Elias da [UNESP], Sousa, Aline Nonato de [UNESP], Bernardo, Camila Hipolito [UNESP], Fransozo, Adilson [UNESP]
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Texto Completo: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-BN-2018-0549; http://hdl.handle.net/11449/185321
• topic: Brachyura; sediment texture; Decapoda; distribution; Coastal Water

This study evaluated the relationships between environmental factors and the spatio-temporal distribution of H. pudibundus, with the hypothesis of differential occupation in coastal areas of southeastern Brazil. The samplings took place monthly in January-December 2000 period, along nine transects from 2 to 40 m of depth, in Ubatuba region, northern coast of Sao Paulo. We collected 1808 individuals of H. pudibundus. The highest abundance was recorded in winter in the transects 10-25 m deep. Abundance was positively correlated with organic matter content and texture sediment (phi values). With the retreat of the South Atlantic Central Water (SACW) in autumn and winter, the sediment swirls, suspending the detritivore and filter-feeding macrofauna, increasing the food availability. Sites characterized by finer sediment offer higher food availability, besides facilitating H. pudibundus burying behavior. Due to its opportunistic predatory behavior, this species feeds on a variety of organisms, including mollusks, annelids and foraminifera, which are preys more abundant in the studied area and in sediments of finer grain size.