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      Colour polymorphism in the coconut crab (Birgus latro)

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      Birgus_latro_revision_170922_final.docx (140.8Kb)
      Date
      2017-11-09
      Author
      Nokelainen, O
      Stevens, M
      Caro, T
      Date issued
      2017-11-09
      Journal
      Evolutionary Ecology
      Type
      Article
      Language
      en
      Publisher
      Springer Verlag
      Rights
      © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2017
      Embargo
      2018-11-09
      Reason for embargo
      Publisher policy
      Abstract
      Coconut crabs (Birgus latro) are strikingly variable in coloration, but the significance of this colour diversity has never been investigated. We studied coloration, morphology, behaviour and background matching of adult coconut crabs, the world’s largest terrestrial invertebrate, at the western edge of its distribution on Pemba Island, Tanzania. Adults are evidently polymorphic; they come in red and blue types (3:1 ratio on Pemba). The best predictor of colour morph was ventral hue, which, using a discriminant function analysis, correctly classified 96% of the crabs assigned into a predefined colour group. In contrast, principal component analyses suggested a degree of overlapping colour variation. We found no evidence that coloration was sex or size-linked. Males were larger than females and the Pemba adult population appeared male-biased (3:1). We also report that red adults may match the background better than do blue adults on land, whereas blue match better near shore than do red. We postulate that although colour diversity in coconut crabs may be genetically determined, potentially through a crustacyanin gene polymorphism influencing the stability of integument pigmentation, its maintenance may involve several ecological drivers.
      Funders/Sponsor
      We thank the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar for permission; the University of California, Davis for funding fieldwork; and two anonymous reviewers for comments. We have no conflict of interest.
      Description
      This is the author accepted manuscript.The final version is available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.
      Citation
      Published online 9 November 2017
      DOI
      https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-017-9924-1
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10871/30144
      ISSN
      0269-7653
      Collections
      • Biosciences

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