Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Noor, Iran.
Department of Aquatic Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Isotopes Environ Health Stud. 2021 Oct;57(5):457-469. doi: 10.1080/10256016.2021.1925665. Epub 2021 May 20.
Crabs of the family Camptandriidae are the most dominant burrowing crabs inhabiting arid mangrove forests of the Persian Gulf. They play important roles in the structuring and functioning of mangrove ecosystems by modulating biogeochemical processes and cycling of nutrients, serving as important ecosystem engineers. We analysed stable carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) isotope values of three camptandriid crabs (, and ) and their potential food sources in the Hara Biosphere Reserve, northern Persian Gulf. A Bayesian mixing model was used to estimate the contribution of potential food sources for consumers. The results showed that to some degree, all the four sources selected contributed to the camptandriid diets, but microphytobenthos made the most important contributions to the diet of the consumers. Mangroves do not appear to be a significant source of carbon in the diet of camptandriid crabs in the arid mangrove system of the Persian Gulf. Rather, they offer favourable growing conditions, thus boosting microphytobenthos production and availability for consumers which prefer a high nutritional and palatable source.
穴居蟹科的螃蟹是栖息在波斯湾干旱红树林中的最占优势的穴居蟹。它们通过调节生物地球化学过程和养分循环，在红树林生态系统的结构和功能中发挥着重要作用，是重要的生态系统工程师。我们分析了波斯湾北部哈拉生物圈保护区三种穴居蟹（、和）及其潜在食物源的稳定碳（C）和氮（N）同位素值。利用贝叶斯混合模型估计了消费者潜在食物源的贡献。结果表明，在某种程度上，所有四个来源都为穴居蟹的饮食做出了贡献，但底栖微型藻类对消费者饮食的贡献最大。在波斯湾干旱红树林系统中，红树林似乎不是穴居蟹饮食中碳的重要来源。相反，它们为底栖微型藻类的生长提供了有利的条件，从而增加了消费者喜欢的高营养和美味来源的底栖微型藻类的产量和可获得性。
