Functional burrow morphology of Biffarius arenosus (Decapoda: Callianassidae) from southern Australia |
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Authors: | F L Bird G C B Poore |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biological and Food Sciences, Victoria University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria 8001, Australia, AU;(2) Crustacea Laboratory, Museum of Victoria, 71 Victoria Crescent, Abbotsford, Victoria 3067, Australia, AU |
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Abstract: | Burrows of the thalassinidean shrimp Biffarius arenosus (Poore, 1975) were investigated by in situ resin-casting on an intertidal sandflat in Western Port, southern Australia. Even
though burrow casts exhibited interspecific variation, all had at least two openings, a U-shaped top and a series of tunnels
and chambers. The space occupied by the burrows was deeper than it was wide; a maximal depth of 58 cm was recorded. Inhalant
and exhalant shafts were restricted relative to tunnel diameter, and were often arranged in a multi-layered U-shape. Additional
shafts branching from deeper sections of the burrows were occasionally observed. The main section of a burrow, extending from
the base of the U, usually consisted of a downward spiral or an irregular spiral combined with some straight tunnel sections,
all with a circular cross-section. The central spiral branched into further tunnels and chambers. Nearly all casts possessed
peripheral chambers positioned either at the edges of horizontal lattices or in the deepest sections of the burrow. No evidence
of plant material was found in peripheral chambers. Major burrow features were consistent with B. arenosus adopting a deposit-feeding trophic mode and collecting its food below the sediment surface.
Received: 17 July 1998 / Accepted: 26 November 1998 |
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