Brock R E, Smith L D
Biol Bull. 1998 Feb;194(1):53-62. doi: 10.2307/1542513.
We examined recovery of claw size and function following autotomy in red rock crabs Cancer productus. We also tested for costs of regeneration to growth and documented the frequency of claw injury in C. productus populations in Barkley Sound, Canada. Field and laboratory results indicated that crabs required at least three molts to recover a full-length cheliped. For injured crabs, regenerating claws were significantly less powerful than contralateral, normal (i.e., uninjured) claws even two instars after autotomy. Greater mechanical advantage in normal claws of injured (versus uninjured) crabs, however, suggests some morphological response by the remaining normal claw to increased exercise. Despite this compensatory response, our experiments indicate that injured crabs remain at a significant disadvantage while foraging. After adjusting for differences in propodus length, both regenerating and normal claws of injured crabs delivered significantly lower crushing forces than did claws of intact crabs. Energetic costs, in the form of reduced body size increase at the molt, were detected only for crabs regenerating both claws. High incidences of single claw loss in C. productus in Barkley Sound, together with our experimental data, suggest that much of the population experiences a prolonged foraging handicap following injury.
我们研究了红斑黄道蟹（Cancer productus）自切后爪子大小和功能的恢复情况。我们还测试了再生对生长的成本，并记录了加拿大巴克利湾红斑黄道蟹种群中爪子受伤的频率。野外和实验室结果表明，螃蟹至少需要三次蜕壳才能使螯足恢复全长。对于受伤的螃蟹，即使在自切后两龄期，再生的爪子也明显比另一侧正常（即未受伤）的爪子力量小。然而，受伤（与未受伤）螃蟹正常爪子具有更大的机械优势，这表明剩余正常爪子对增加的运动量有一些形态学反应。尽管有这种补偿反应，但我们的实验表明，受伤的螃蟹在觅食时仍处于明显劣势。在调整了掌节长度的差异后，受伤螃蟹的再生爪子和正常爪子产生的压碎力都明显低于完整螃蟹的爪子。仅在两只爪子都再生的螃蟹中检测到以蜕壳时身体大小增长减少形式存在的能量成本。巴克利湾红斑黄道蟹单爪损失的高发生率，连同我们的实验数据，表明该种群中的许多个体在受伤后经历了长期的觅食障碍。
