Mating and burrow plugging behavior of Cardisoma carnifex on the Iriomote-jima Island in Japan

抄録

To characterize the reproductive behavior of the land crab Cardisoma carnifex, their nighttime activities on the ground surface around their burrows were monitored using infrared-triggered cameras on the Iriomote-jima Island, Japan. Matings of three pairs were recorded near the entrance of the female’s burrow. The results showed that the species shares a common mating pattern of gecarcinids: hard-female mating and short courtship. The males did not exhibit courtship behavior, except for drumming on the surface sediment. The duration of copulation was longer (29, 30, and 49 min) than that in the reference data (1–10 min). After mating, males guarded their mate’s burrow and plugged the opening from the outside. By contrast, the resident crabs sometimes plug their burrows from the inside. Burrow plugging by C. carnifex males is similar to post-copulatory guarding by males of brachyurans, to prevent multiple matings by females. The non-invasive cameras revealed novel features of mating behavior of C. carnifex such as longer copulation, drumming behavior, and burrow plugging by males.