Scholars@Duke
James Welch

James Welch

Adjunct Professor in the Division of Marine Science and Policy
Marine Science and Conservation

Selected Publications

The role of adult fiddler crab environmental acoustic cues and chemical cues in stimulating molting of field-caught megalopae

Journal Article Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology · April 1, 2021 In mid-Atlantic estuaries, three fiddler crab species, Uca pugilator, Uca pugnax and Uca minax, co-occur, with their adults occupying different habitat types distinguished by salinity and sediment size. Some evidence exists that selective settlement is res ... Full text Open Access Cite

Seasonal and latitudinal variations in the energy reserves of the mud fiddler crab Uca pugnax: Implications for the response to climate change

Journal Article Aquatic Biology · August 28, 2017 In 2014, the Atlantic mud fiddler crab Uca pugnax was found 80 km north of its previously known northern range limit. Two years before this shift was noted, we collected a total of 781 male and female specimens from 6 populations along a latitudinal transe ... Full text Cite

Chemical cues from adult fiddler crabs stimulate molting of conspecific megalopae: Evidence from field-caught individuals

Journal Article Marine Ecology Progress Series · July 14, 2016 In mid-Atlantic estuaries, 3 species of fiddler crabs (Uca pugilator, U. pugnax and U. minax) co-occur, with their adults occupying different habitat types separated by salinity and sediment size. There is evidence that selective settlement is responsible ... Full text Cite

Settlement of fiddler crab megalopae on a North Carolina (USA) sandflat: Species identification using multiplex PCR provides evidence for selective settlement

Journal Article Marine Ecology Progress Series · March 16, 2015 Selection of settlement sites by planktonic larvae can have important impacts on adult population distributions. Three species of fiddler crabs - Uca pugilator, U. pugnax, and U. minax - commonly co-occur in mid-Atlantic estuaries of the USA. They share a ... Full text Cite

Planktonic ingress of fiddler crab megalopae to the Newport River Estuary, NC: Evidence for semilunar periodicity in Uca pugnax and species-specific sampling bias by hog's hair larval collectors

Journal Article Marine Ecology Progress Series · March 16, 2015 We examined the planktonic ingress of fiddler crab megalopae into the Newport River Estuary, NC, using hog's hair collectors to determine whether there were differences in patterns of ingress among the 3 Uca species in this estuary. In 2 consecutive summer ... Full text Cite

Herding limits water loss in the sand fiddler crab, Uca pugilator

Journal Article Journal of Crustacean Biology · January 1, 2005 Adult sand fiddler crabs, Uca pugilator, forage in large herds on exposed sediment during low tide. These herds form as a response to optimal foraging conditions but may have an additional benefit of water conservation. We determined water loss rates for c ... Full text Cite

Effects of chemical cues on orientation of blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, megalopae in flow: Implications for location of nursery areas

Journal Article Marine Biology · April 1, 2003 Megalopae (postlarvae) of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun use flood-tide transport (FTT) for movement into and up estuaries. Since they settle around the time of slack water at the end of flood tide during FTT, it was predicted that orientation t ... Full text Cite

Selective tidal-stream transport of the blue crab Callinectes Sapidus: An overview

Journal Article Bulletin of Marine Science · March 1, 2003 This overview combines our recent studies with existing information to develop more complete conceptual models of selective tidal-stream transport (STST) of ovigerous female and post-larvae of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus. During the first phase of th ... Cite

Settlement times of blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) megalopae during flood-tide transport

Journal Article Marine Biology · December 1, 2002 Settlement by blue crab (Callinectes sapidus Rathbun) megalopae on artificial settlement substrates was monitored relative to tidal currents throughout ten nights from July to September 1997 in which the phase relationship between tides and the light:dark ... Full text Cite

MOCNESS estimates of the size and abundance of a pelagic gonostomatid fish Cyclothone pallida off the Bahamas

Journal Article Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom · January 1, 2001 Depth patterns of size and abundance in a pelagic bristlemouth fish Cyclothone pallida (Stomiformes: Gonostomatidae) are reported. Sampling was conducted during the day and night at two sites in the Bahamas using a Multiple Opening and Closing Net and Elec ... Full text Cite

Light induced larval release of a colonial ascidian.

Journal Article Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology · May 2000 Larval release and photobehavior were studied in the colonial ascidian Polyandrocarpa zorritensis. The test hypothesis was that if larval release is induced by light, then larvae should be attracted to settlement areas where light is sufficient for larval ... Full text Cite

Behaviour and sensory physiology of Atlantic menhaden larvae, Brevoortia tyrannus, during horizontal transport

Journal Article Fisheries Oceanography · December 1, 1999 Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus, spawn on the continental shelf off North Carolina in the late fall and winter. Larvae are transported shoreward where they enter and migrate up estuaries to the juvenile habitat. In this paper, we synthesize behaviou ... Full text Cite

Behavioral responses of blue crab Callinectes sapidus postlarvae to turbulence: Implications for selective tidal stream transport

Journal Article Marine Ecology Progress Series · April 15, 1999 Postlarvae (megalopae) of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus move up estuaries using selective tidal stream transport, in which they are in the water column on flood tides and at or near the bottom at other times. They have no endogenous tidal rhythm in act ... Full text Cite

Cues and context: Larval responses to physical and chemical cues

Journal Article Biofouling · January 1, 1998 Most marine organisms have a highly specialized larval settlement stage. A major function of the settlement stage is response to environmental input that results in deposition of the larvae in a location which confers probability of survival and successful ... Full text Cite

Effects of chemical cues on settlement behavior of blue crab Callinectes sapidus postlarvae

Journal Article Marine Ecology Progress Series · July 31, 1997 Settlement of blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun postlarvae (megalopae) was examined in the field in the presence and absence of chemical cues from settlement habitats and potential megalopal predators. Megalopae in premolt preferentially settled on col ... Full text Cite

Endogenous swimming rhythms of blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, megalopae: Effects of offshore and estuarine cues

Journal Article Marine Biology · March 1, 1997 Larvae of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun develop on the continental shelf. The postlarval stage (megalopa) occurs near the surface and is transported shoreward by wind-driven surface currents. It then uses selective tidal stream transport for mi ... Full text Cite

Effects of environmental cues on metamorphosis of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus

Journal Article Marine Ecology Progress Series · February 8, 1996 Postlarvae (megalopae) of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Rathbun) are transported from shelf/coastal areas into estuaries where they metamorphose (molt) to the first crab stage. This study used time to metamorphosis of megalopae collected near the entr ... Full text Cite

Photoresponses of larval Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus Latrobe) in offshore and estuarine waters: Implications for transport

Journal Article Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology · January 1, 1996 This study tested the hypothesis that Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus Latrobe) larvae have separate behaviors in offshore and estuarine waters that are evoked by chemical cues in these waters. Atlantic menhaden spawn offshore, and larvae are transpo ... Full text Cite

Growth and development of Atlantic mud crab larvae fed natural Zooplankton prey

Journal Article Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology · July 27, 1994 Atlantic mud crab larvae (Panopeus herbstii H. Milne Edwards) were fed either brine-shrimp nauplii or natural Zooplankton in the laboratory and in large, field-deployed enclosures. Larvae developed fastest in 1440-1, field-deployed enclosures. By 9 days po ... Full text Cite