How Martin J, Zeil Jochen, Hemmi Jan M
ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science and Centre for Visual Sciences, Research School of Biological Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2009 Jan;195(1):55-67. doi: 10.1007/s00359-008-0382-7. Epub 2008 Nov 12.
Fiddler crabs use elaborate, species-specific claw-waving displays to communicate with rivals and mates. However, detailed comparative studies of fiddler crab signal structure and structural variations are lacking. This paper provides an analysis of the claw-waving displays of seven Australian species of fiddler crab, Uca mjoebergi, U. perplexa, U. polita, U. seismella, U. signata, U. elegans and U. vomeris. We used digital video to record and analyse the fine-scale spatiotemporal properties of these movement-based visual signals. We found that the structure and timing of the displays is species-specific, exhibiting inter-specific differences that follow phylogenetic relationships. The displays showed intra-specific variation according to individual identity, geographic location and fine-scale behavioural context. The observed differences and variations are discussed in the light of the evolutionary forces that may shape their design.
招潮蟹会用精心设计的、特定物种的挥舞爪子的展示行为来与竞争对手和配偶进行交流。然而，目前缺乏对招潮蟹信号结构和结构变异的详细比较研究。本文对七种澳大利亚招潮蟹（Uca mjoebergi、U. perplexa、U. polita、U. seismella、U. signata、U. elegans和U. vomeris）的挥舞爪子展示行为进行了分析。我们使用数字视频记录并分析了这些基于动作的视觉信号的精细时空特性。我们发现，展示行为的结构和时间安排具有物种特异性，呈现出符合系统发育关系的种间差异。展示行为还根据个体身份、地理位置和精细行为背景表现出种内变异。我们根据可能影响其设计的进化力量对观察到的差异和变异进行了讨论。
