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Arthropods, 2013, 2(2): 45-52
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Article

Gastropod shell species utilized by hermit crabs (Decapoda: Anomura) along the Turkish coast of the Levantine Sea

Tahir Ozcan1, Bilal Ozturk2, Tuncer Katagan2, Banu Bitlis2
1Faculty of Marine Sciences and Technology, Mustafa Kemal University, TR-31200 Iskenderun, Hatay, Turkey
2Department of Hidrobiology, Fisheries Faculty, Ege University, 35100 Bornova-Izmir, Turkey

Received 19 December 2012;Accepted 23 January 2013;Published online 1 June 2013
IAEES

Abstract
The present study aimed to describe the gastropod shell species utilized by hermit crabs (Decapoda: Anomura) collected during investigations of the decapod fauna of the Levantine Sea coast of Turkey. Specimens were collected from July 2005 to October 2005. A total of 715 individuals belonging to 9 hermit crab species occupying 47 gastropod shell species were collected. The hermit crabs, Diogenes pugilator (Roux, 1829) and Cestopagurus timidus (Roux, 1830) had the highest inhabitation frequency (IF), inhabiting 23.92% and 23.78% of all the samples collected respectively. The nine hermit crab species captured utilizing shells from forty-seven gastropods species. Cerithium scabridum Philippi, 1849 (100%) was the most commonly utilized shell by all hermit crabs.

Keywords shell utilization;Anomura;Decapoda;Gastropod;hermit crabs;Levantine Sea;Turkey.



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