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The importance of color in mate choice of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Baldwin, J; Johnsen, S
Published in: The Journal of experimental biology
November 2009

Visual displays often play a large role in animal communication, particularly in sexual interactions. The blue crab Callinectes sapidus is both colorful and highly visually responsive, yet almost all studies of their courtship have focused on chemical cues. In the blue crab's underwater environment, however, visual cues may function more rapidly and over a longer distance than chemical cues. Given that blue crabs are aggressive and cannibalistic, visual cues may therefore allow blue crabs to quickly evaluate potential mates from safer distances. In the present study we show that courtship and mate choice behavior in C. sapidus can be stimulated by visual cues alone. Further, we show that males have a preference for females with red claw dactyls. In binary choice experiments, males displayed more often to photographs of females with red claws than to those with white claws or to those with black claws that were isoluminant to the red ones. This strongly suggests that male blue crabs made their choices based on the hue of the red claws, further suggesting that blue crabs are capable of color vision and use color in mate choice.

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Published In

The Journal of experimental biology

DOI

EISSN

1477-9145

ISSN

0022-0949

Publication Date

November 2009

Volume

212

Issue

Pt 22

Start / End Page

3762 / 3768

Related Subject Headings

  • Physiology
  • Mating Preference, Animal
  • Male
  • Female
  • Color Perception
  • Color
  • Choice Behavior
  • Brachyura
  • Animals
  • 31 Biological sciences
 

Citation

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Baldwin, J., & Johnsen, S. (2009). The importance of color in mate choice of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 212(Pt 22), 3762–3768. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.028027
Baldwin, Jamie, and Sönke Johnsen. “The importance of color in mate choice of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus.The Journal of Experimental Biology 212, no. Pt 22 (November 2009): 3762–68. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.028027.
Baldwin J, Johnsen S. The importance of color in mate choice of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus. The Journal of experimental biology. 2009 Nov;212(Pt 22):3762–8.
Baldwin, Jamie, and Sönke Johnsen. “The importance of color in mate choice of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus.The Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 212, no. Pt 22, Nov. 2009, pp. 3762–68. Epmc, doi:10.1242/jeb.028027.
Baldwin J, Johnsen S. The importance of color in mate choice of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus. The Journal of experimental biology. 2009 Nov;212(Pt 22):3762–3768.
Journal cover image

Published In

The Journal of experimental biology

DOI

EISSN

1477-9145

ISSN

0022-0949

Publication Date

November 2009

Volume

212

Issue

Pt 22

Start / End Page

3762 / 3768

Related Subject Headings

  • Physiology
  • Mating Preference, Animal
  • Male
  • Female
  • Color Perception
  • Color
  • Choice Behavior
  • Brachyura
  • Animals
  • 31 Biological sciences