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Environmental and endogenous control of selective tidal-stream transport behavior during blue crab Callinectes sapidus spawning migrations

Publication ,  Journal Article
Darnell, MZ; Wolcott, TG; Rittschof, D
Published in: Marine Biology
March 1, 2012

Selective tidal-stream transport (STST) is used by many estuarine organisms. Spawning blue crabs use a form of STST, ebb-tide transport (ETT), to migrate to high-salinity areas of the lower estuary and coastal ocean for larval release. In tidal estuaries, ETT is driven by a circatidal rhythm in vertical swimming with episodic ascents into the water column during ebb tide. This study examined vertical swimming behavior of migrating female blue crabs tethered in habitats they could encounter during migration. A combined bio-physical field study in the summer of 2009 simultaneously measured physical parameters of the water column and vertical swimming behavior of tethered ovigerous crabs using pressure-recording dataloggers. Tethering sites were in the tidal Beaufort Inlet drainage and the non-tidal Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System, North Carolina, USA. Crabs tethered in tidal areas swam primarily during ebb tides, both day and night. Swimming frequency increased as embryonic development progressed and ebb-tide swimming continued after larval release. Swimming frequency varied among habitats with the highest swimming frequency in the known migratory corridor. Swimming did not occur in the non-tidal habitat. Differences in swimming frequency among sites are hypothesized to be responses to environmental cues, including flow regime. Some habitats serve as migratory corridors while others serve as foraging stopovers. These areas are likely defined by a combination of environmental cues including flow regime. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Marine Biology

DOI

ISSN

0025-3162

Publication Date

March 1, 2012

Volume

159

Issue

3

Start / End Page

621 / 631

Related Subject Headings

  • Marine Biology & Hydrobiology
  • 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences
 

Citation

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Darnell, M. Z., Wolcott, T. G., & Rittschof, D. (2012). Environmental and endogenous control of selective tidal-stream transport behavior during blue crab Callinectes sapidus spawning migrations. Marine Biology, 159(3), 621–631. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1841-1
Darnell, M. Z., T. G. Wolcott, and D. Rittschof. “Environmental and endogenous control of selective tidal-stream transport behavior during blue crab Callinectes sapidus spawning migrations.” Marine Biology 159, no. 3 (March 1, 2012): 621–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1841-1.
Darnell, M. Z., et al. “Environmental and endogenous control of selective tidal-stream transport behavior during blue crab Callinectes sapidus spawning migrations.” Marine Biology, vol. 159, no. 3, Mar. 2012, pp. 621–31. Scopus, doi:10.1007/s00227-011-1841-1.
Journal cover image

Published In

Marine Biology

DOI

ISSN

0025-3162

Publication Date

March 1, 2012

Volume

159

Issue

3

Start / End Page

621 / 631

Related Subject Headings

  • Marine Biology & Hydrobiology
  • 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences