Shell occupation pattern by the hermit crab Diogenes alias McLaughlin & Holthuis, 2001 (Diogenidae) from Mumbai, India

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to ascertain shell occupation patterns by the hermit crab; <em>Diogenes alias </em>found inhabiting the subtidal region of Mumbai, northwest coast of India. A total of 385 samples of<em> D. alias, </em>occupying different molluscan shells, were collected bi-weekly from trawling operations off Mumbai. The species was found to occupy the shells of 12 gastropods species, of which, the most commonly occupied shells were that of <em>Tibia curta</em> (38.7 %) followed by <em>Indothais lacera </em>(36.37 %) while the shells of <em>Rapana rapiformis</em> and <em>Turris </em>spp. were least occupied with 0.26 %. The diversity of shells occupied by male was higher than female and least in ovigerous females. A high correlation was found between the internal volume of shell and weight of hermit crab occupying it. The present study concluded that the shell architecture has influence on the shell occupation by hermit crabs.