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The effects of prey size, predator size, and sediment composition on the rate of predation of the blue crab, Callinectes Sapidus Rathbun, on the hard clam, Mercenaria Mercenaria (Linne)

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Date Issued:
1984
Title: The effects of prey size, predator size, and sediment composition on the rate of predation of the blue crab, Callinectes Sapidus Rathbun, on the hard clam, Mercenaria Mercenaria (Linne).
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Name(s): Arnold, William S., creator
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Article
Issuance: single unit
Date Issued: 1984
Publisher: Elsevier B.V.
Extent: 14 p.
Physical Description: pdf
Language(s): English
Identifier: 3331860 (digitool), FADT3331860 (IID), fau:6126 (fedora), 10.1016/0022-0981(84)90150-3 (doi)
Note(s): Sediment preferences of blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, and predation rates on various size classes of the hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria (Linné), in a variety of sediment types were studied in the laboratory. Blue crabs of all size classes exhibited a preference for sand, mud, and sand/mud rather than crushed oyster shell or granite gravel. Clams were more vulnerable to predation by crabs in sand and sand/mud than in crushed oyster shell or granite gravel. When crabs were given a choice of clam sizes based on carapace width (CW), small crabs (<75 mm CW) consumed 5- and 10-mm shell length (SL) clams. Medium crabs (75–125 mm CW) preferentially consumed 10-mm SL clams. Large crabs (> 125 mm CW) consumed 10- and 25-mm SL clams equally. Blue crabs did not eat clams that were >40-mm SL.
This manuscript is an author version with the final publication available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00220981 and may be cited as: Arnold, W. S. (1984). The effects of prey size, predator size, and sediment composition on the rate of predation of the blue crab, Callinectes Sapidus Rathbun, on the hard clam, Mercenaria Mercenaria (Linne). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 80(3), 207-219. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(84)90150-3
Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute contribution #382.
Subject(s): Blue crab
Callinectes
Predation (Biology)
Mercenaria mercenaria
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/FCLA/DT/3331860
Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(84)90150-3
Restrictions on Access: ©1984 Elsevier B.V.
Host Institution: FAU