Feeding habits of Percnon gibbesi (H. Milne Edwards, 1853) in the Sicily Strait
Puccio, V.; Relini, M.; Azzurro, E.; Relini, L.O. (2006). Feeding habits of Percnon gibbesi (H. Milne Edwards, 1853) in the Sicily Strait, in: Thessalou-Legaki, M. (Ed.) Issues of decapod crustacean biology. Developments in Hydrobiology, 184: pp. 79-84
In: Dumont, H.J. (Ed.) Developments in Hydrobiology. Kluwer Academic/Springer: The Hague; London; Boston; Dordrecht. ISSN 0167-8418, more
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| Keywords |
Alien species
Grapsidae MacLeay, 1838 [WoRMS]; Percnon gibbesi (H. Milne Edwards, 1853) [WoRMS]
MED, Mediterranean [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal |
| Authors | | Top |
- Puccio, V.
- Relini, M.
- Azzurro, E.
- Relini, L.O.
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| Abstract |
The subtropical grapsid crab Percnon gibbesi (H. Milne Edwards, 1853) is one of the most recent alien decapods found in the Mediterranean, where it was discovered at Linosa (Pelagie Islands, Sicily Strait) in summer 1999. At present, the invasion of this species has been recorded in several other insular localities. We studied the feeding habits of the crab in an attempt to understand its success in the Mediterranean. The morphological characteristics of the chela, the feeding adaptations of the gastric mill and the analysis of stomach contents indicate that P. gibbesi is a strictly herbivorous species, a characteristic not shared with any other large-sized infralittoral Mediterranean crab. |
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