| Abstract |
Representatives of several families of Stomatopoda and Thalassinidea are the most skillful burrowers among the Crustacea.Some species of both groups live in the same habitat, as for example Coronis scavatrix and Callichirus major or Acanthosquilla floridensis and Sergio mirim, and only a trained eye is able to distinguish their burrow openings (those of stomatopods are slightly oval).These species also coat the burrow walls with a mixture of substratum and a sticky secretion that result in a kind of cement of similar characteristics.Since stomatopods are carnivorous and thaslassinideans are microfagous deposit and/or suspension feeders, comparative studies of appendages and gut structures can be relevant in defining which structures are related to digging and which are related to feeding. |
Rodrigues, S. de A. (1999) Burrowing behavior: a convergence between stomatopods and thalassinideans. Program and Abstracts of the 1999 The Crustacean Society Summer Meeting. 