First field record of mangrove crab Ucides cordatus (Crustacea: Decapoda: Ucididae) recruits co-inhabiting burrows of conspecific crabs

ABSTRACT

Recruits of the mangrove crab Ucides cordatus (Linnaeus, 1763), rarely encountered in the field were found co-inhabiting burrows of larger male and female conspecifics in the mangrove forest. They were located in the sediment of the inner walls and burrow plugs. Average carapace width (CW) of the hosting and co-inhabiting crabs was 3.8 ± 0.20 and 0.9 ± 0.03, respectively. As shown by the size-frequency distribution, while most recruits leave the conspecific burrows after reaching 1.0 cm CW, some stay until they reach a size of 2.5 cm CW. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of recruitment patterns in this ecologically and economically important mangrove crab species. Follow-up studies are however needed to fully determine the role of conspecific burrows for juvenile habitat choice and survivorship in U. cordatus.