Many decapods show asymmetry in the size and shape of their chelae, a phenomenon commonly known as heterochely. This may be related to the diverse functions that the two chelae exert for food acquisition, courtship display, or territorial defence (e.g. Mariappan et al., 2000). The majority of brachyurans are right-handed (e.g. Williams & Heng, 1981; Bartwell, 1982; Ng & Tan, 1985; Abby-Kalio & Warner, 1989), contrary to Hartnoll’s (1982) claim that “there is no preference for handedness” in most heterochelous decapods. Heterochely is well documented in freshwater decapods, but, differently from the marine species, they have been poorly analysed until now (Daniels, 2001). In this study, we investigated heterochely in a population of the freshwater crab Potamon potamios (Bott, 1967), a species distributed in the Sinai, Jordan River system, Litani River, Greek mainland, the south-eastern Aegean islands, and south Anatolia (Brandis et al., 2000).
Heterochely and handedness in the river crab, Potamon potamios (Olivier, 1804) (Decapoda, Brachyura) / M. SCALICI; F. GHERARDI. - In: CRUSTACEANA. - ISSN 0011-216X. - STAMPA. - 81:(2008), pp. 507-511. [10.1163/156854008783797525]
Heterochely and handedness in the river crab, Potamon potamios (Olivier, 1804) (Decapoda, Brachyura).
GHERARDI, FRANCESCA
2008
Abstract
Many decapods show asymmetry in the size and shape of their chelae, a phenomenon commonly known as heterochely. This may be related to the diverse functions that the two chelae exert for food acquisition, courtship display, or territorial defence (e.g. Mariappan et al., 2000). The majority of brachyurans are right-handed (e.g. Williams & Heng, 1981; Bartwell, 1982; Ng & Tan, 1985; Abby-Kalio & Warner, 1989), contrary to Hartnoll’s (1982) claim that “there is no preference for handedness” in most heterochelous decapods. Heterochely is well documented in freshwater decapods, but, differently from the marine species, they have been poorly analysed until now (Daniels, 2001). In this study, we investigated heterochely in a population of the freshwater crab Potamon potamios (Bott, 1967), a species distributed in the Sinai, Jordan River system, Litani River, Greek mainland, the south-eastern Aegean islands, and south Anatolia (Brandis et al., 2000).File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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