Ecological implications of cheliped size in crabs: some data from Carcinus maenas and Liocarcinus holsatus

Abstract

Although individuals with larger chelipeds can feed on a wider range of prey species and sizes, the proportion of hard-bodied prey in the natural diet of C. maenas was small. Bigger chelae, however, confer selective advantages by increasing success in mate competition and intraspecific agonistic interactions. Field collections of mating pairs of C. maenas indicated that 90% of mating males had chelae that were above average size for the male population as a whole. Cheliped size and meral spread was probably more important than overall body size in determining the response pattern of the subjects. -from Authors