How do weaponless male fiddler crabs avoid aggression? |
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Authors: | Isobel Booksmythe Richard N C Milner Michael D Jennions Patricia R Y Backwell |
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Institution: | (1) Research School of Biology (Botany and Zoology), The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia |
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Abstract: | Mimicry of females enables weaker males in many species to avoid intrasexual aggression. In fiddler crabs (Uca annulipes), males use their major claw in aggressive interactions to acquire and defend a territory. Males that have autotomised their
major claw will be disadvantaged in fighting, but might use their temporary resemblance to females to avoid costly aggressive
encounters with other males. We investigated whether: (1) courting males mistake clawless male fiddler crabs for females;
(2) clawless males are able to acquire, defend and retain territories as successfully as intact males; and (3) clawless males
are more cautious than intact males. Clawless and intact males differed in burrow acquisition methods and fighting behaviour,
but were equally successful at acquiring and retaining burrows. While courting males treated clawless males as female, we
found no evidence that clawless males mimic the behaviour of females, or that they exploit the advantage of their mistaken
identity. Clawless males further appear to avoid male aggression by altering their territorial strategies to minimise the
potential for conflict. |
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