Abstract
Isolation increases activity in individuals of some species, whereas it decreases activity in individuals of other species. Furthermore, as the length of isolation increases, behavioral changes can become more pronounced. Here, we examined effects of short-term isolation on latencies for individuals to emerge from their shells in two species of terrestrial hermit crab (Coenobita rugosus and Coenobita brevimanus) over a 4-week period. Within each species, crabs were housed individually (isolate context) or socially in groups of four (social context). In each week, crabs were exposed to an emergence test, which measured the latency to emerge from the shell following a potentially threatening stimulus. We obtained a significant context × week interaction. Although socially housed crabs showed no change in emergence over the 4 weeks of the study, isolate crabs took longer to emerge from their shells as the period of isolation increased. Our study corroborates findings in other invertebrate species, as well as in vertebrate species, that isolation generally decreases activity levels and may increase fear levels, in individuals.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Matthew Haines, Emily Oller, Anna Scalf, and Michael Williams for their assistance with data collection and the Fall 2010 Comparative Animal Behavior Laboratory class for input throughout the study. We are grateful to the Department of Psychology at the University of Tennessee for providing funds to obtain hermit crabs and supplies. Thanks to Thaddeus Bissett, David Book, Sheri Browning, Gordon M. Burghardt, Jessica Owens, Courtney Stec, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript.
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Bartmess-LeVasseur, J.N., Freeberg, T.M. Isolation increases time to emerge from shells in two Coenobita hermit crab species. acta ethol 18, 221–225 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-014-0192-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-014-0192-6