Does Shells Type Restraining Influence Relative Growth Rates of Clibanarius antillensis (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Diogenidae)?

Does Shells Type Restraining Influence Relative Growth Rates of Clibanarius antillensis (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Diogenidae)?

This study aimed to analyze the relation of gastropod shells and hermit crab sizes and the relative growth (rates) of Clibanarius antillensis based on the allometric technique. We sampled hermit crabs on a rocky shore from Cairu municipality, coast of Bahia, Brazil in 2011. These hermit crabs only occupied shells of one species of gastropod, Cerithium atratum, despite occurrence of other gastropod species in the area. The relative growth of C. antillensis had a negative allometric standard for shield length vs. shield width, which indicates that the carapace shield grows at a higher rate in length than in width. This finding is the opposite of that found in other studies for hermit crabs. We suspect that the use of only one gastropod shell type may be modulating growth rates of C. antillensis at the study site.