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Article Citation:
Marina de Sá Leitão Câmara de Araújo.
The leaping behavior of the sally lightfoot crab Grapsus grapsus (Crustacea: Decapoda:
Brachyura) at an oceanic archipelago.
Journal of Research in Biology (2014) 4(4): 1357-1364
Journal of Research in Biology
The leaping behavior of the sally lightfoot crab
Grapsus grapsus
(Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) at an oceanic archipelago
Keywords:
Crab behavior, Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Red rock crab,
Semi-terrestrial crab.
ABSTRACT:
The genus Grapsus includes a total of nine recognized species of semi-
terrestrial crabs. Among them, Grapsus grapsus (Linnaeus, 1758) stands popularly
known as sally lightfoot crab. It is very abundant in Oceanic Islands, such as the
Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Brazil. The present study registered the behavior
of jumping between the rocks by G. grapsus in the supralittoral of Fernando de
Noronha Archipelago. Field observations were performed in May 2012, including
video footage. The crabs, juveniles and adults, males and females, jump from a rock to
another. This can be related to a defense habit, but it seems that the crabs also jump
to avoid entering into the sea, or to escape from wave wash. Other registers on crabs
jumping from literature are also discussed. However, more studies on this behavior
are still necessary for understanding them completely.
1357-1364 | JRB | 2014 | Vol 4 | No 4
This article is governed by the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/2.0), which gives permission for unrestricted use, non-commercial, distribution and
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www.jresearchbiology.com
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Authors:
Marina de Sá Leitão
Câmara de Araújo.
Institution:
Departamento de Ciências
Exatas e Naturais, Faculdade
de Ciência, Educação e
Tecnologia de Garanhuns
(FACETEG), Campus
Garanhuns, Universidade de
Pernambuco (UPE), Brazil.
Corresponding author:
Marina de Sá Leitão
Câmara de Araújo.
Email Id:
Web Address:
http://jresearchbiology.com/
documents/RA0452.pdf.
Dates:
Received: 20 May 2014 Accepted: 30 May 2014 Published: 26 Jun 2014
Journal of Research in Biology
An International Scientific Research Journal
Original Research
ISSN No Print: 2231 –6280; Online: 2231- 6299
INTRODUCTION
The genus Grapsus Lamarck, 1801 (Grapsidae)
includes a total of nine recognized species of semi-
terrestrial crabs: G. adscensionis (Osbeck, 1765),
G. albolineatus Latreille, in Milbert, 1812,
G. fourmanoiri Crosnier, 1965, G. granulosus H. Milne
Edwards, 1853, G. grapsus (Linnaeus, 1758),
G. huzardi Desmarest, 1825, G. intermedius de Man,
1888, G. lo n gi ta r s i s D an a , 1 85 1 a nd
G. tenuicrustatus (Herbst, 1783) (WORMS, 2013; Ng
et al., 2008). Among these species, G. grapsus, stands
out popularly and are known as red rock crab, sally
lightfoot crab, "aratu" (in Portuguese) and "abuete negro"
or "sayapa" (in Spanish). This species is found in the
Pacific Ocean, from Baja California to Northern Chile,
and Galapagos Islands, and in the Atlantic Ocean, from
Bermudas, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Antilles, Colombia,
and from Venezuela to Brazil. In the Brazilian coast, this
crab is found from the States of Ceará to Espírito Santo,
but it is more abundant in the Oceanic islands (Fernando
de Noronha Archipelago, Rocas Atoll and Saint Peter
and Saint Paul Rocks) (Melo, 1996; Freire et al., 2011).
At Saint Peter and Saint Paul Rocks, (Ross 1847, apud
Holthuis et al., 1980) cited that this species is a predator
of the eggs of birds that nest at the area, and Viana et al.,
(2004) cited that this is one of the most abundant animal
species on the rocks. Melo (1996) also signals the
occurrence of this species at Trindade, a Brazilian
volcanic island distant 1,167 km from the continent, but
probably the species inhabiting this island is, in fact,
G. adscensionis (Hartnoll, 2009). Ratti (2004) believed
that the differences between G. adscensionis and
G. grapsus were not enough to support two different
species, but more recently, several authors such as Ng
et al., (2008) and Freire et al., (2011), recognized the
taxonomic validity of both species.
Among the oceanic island this species can be
found, stands out the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago
(FNA) (3°51′S, 32°25′ W), a complex of volcanic islands
and rocks, which is found under jurisdiction of the State
of Pernambuco, Northeast of Brazil. The benthic fauna
of FNA was studied by Lopes and Alvarenga (1955) and
Matthews and Kempf (1970) (Mollusca), Pires et al.,
(1992) (Cnidaria), Mothes and Bastian (1993) and
Muricy and Moraes (1998) (Porifera), among others.
Several oceanographic expeditions explored the
archipelago, such as H.M.S. Beagle Challenger
Expedition, Hartt Expedition, Branner-Agassiz
Expedition, Calypso, Canopus and Almirante Saldanha.
The results of the Crustacea sampled on these
expeditions can be found at several publications, such as
Smith (1869), Miers (1886), Henderson (1888), Bate
(1888), Rathbun (1900, 1918, 1925, among others),
Forest and de Saint-Laurent (1967) and Coelho et al.,
(2006, 2007, 2008). Fausto-Filho (1974) presented a list
of the Decapoda and Stomatopoda collected by himself
and based on some of the cited publications, which
resulted in a total of 66 species (3 Stomatopoda and 63
Decapoda) for FNA. Included, there is G. grapsus. The
species was considered very abundant, being found in all
beaches. There is no doubt that the species inhabiting
FNA is G. grapsus. They are commonly observed in the
rocky shores of the islands that compose the archipelago,
sharing the habitat with Plagusia depressa (Fabricius,
1775) (Plagusiidae). The present study aims to describe
the jumping behavior of Grapsus grapsus at FNA during
field observations.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The archipelago is distant 545 km from the
capital of Pernambuco, the Municipality of Recife,
occupies an area of 26 km² and the main island,
Fernando de Noronha, has an area of 17 km², being 6
miles long and 2 miles wide (Matthews and Kempf,
1970; Fausto-Filho, 1974). In May 2012, during three
days, field observations and footages of this species were
performed at Sueste Bay, FNA (Figure-1) (3º52'01" S;
32º25'19" W). At the bay, the Sueste Beach and the
Araújo, 2014
1358 Journal of Research in Biology (2014) 4(4): 1357-1364
Sueste Mangrove are included, the last one being
considered the only oceanic mangrove of South Atlantic.
In the seawater of the bay, there are several islets, such
as Cabeluda, Chapéu, Ovos and Trinta-Réis.
The individuals of Grapsus grapsus were
observed in the rocky shore of the bay. These rocks are
mainly distributed in the extremities of the bay, and also
serve as habitat for Plagusia depressa. The water was
transparent and shallow, with a depth of 1m. The footage
was performed with a Panasonic camera, DMC-FT10
model. After that, a bibliographic research was
performed to seek possible registers of the jumping
behavior of crabs in the literature.
The air temperature and tidal heights for the
dates of study were obtained through the Integrated
System of Environmental Data (SINDA).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The air temperature for the study period varied
from 25.5 to 30ºC (Figure-2), characterizing a tropical
climate. The observations were performed during the dry
period, equatorial summer. According to Ribeiro et al.,
(2003, 2005), the FNA climate is of the type Aw of
Köppen's classifications, i.e. tropical with semi-arid
Journal of Research in Biology (2014) 4(4): 1357-1364 1359
Araújo, 2014
A B
C D
Figure 1. Brazilian coast with the location of the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, FNA
(A); FNA with the location of the Sueste Bay (B); Aerial view of the Sueste Bay (C);
Rocky shore at Sueste Bay, where the field observations of Grapsus grapsus (Linnaeus,
1758) were perfomed (D).
characteristics, having well defined dry and rainy
periods.
The tidal level for the study period varied from
1.25 to 2.75 m (Figure-3). The tidal regime can be
characterized as semi-diurnal tide, since there are two
high tides in each lunar day (Thurman, 1997). According
to Souza (2011), the maximum height of the tide in FNA
is 2.80 m, and the minimum, 0.0m. Thus, regarding its
amplitude, the tide of FNA can be classified as
mesotides.
The observed population consisted of Grapsus
grapsus juveniles and adults of both sexes. They were
found sharing the habitat with Plagusia depressa.
Besides the size, adults and juveniles are also
distinguished by the color of the carapace. Juveniles of
G. grapsus are dark green, dark gray or almost black,
which is important for they camouflage on the
black volcanic rocks of oceanic islands, and with light
yellow spots. On the other hand, adults are quite variable
in color; some are dark red or bright red (especially
Araújo, 2014
1360 Journal of Research in Biology (2014) 4(4): 1357-1364
Figure 2. Air temperature by dates and hour during the study period,
at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago.
Figure 3. Tidal level by dates and hour during the study period,
at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago.
males), others are dark green. Some lines and spots can
be observed (Fausto-Filho, 1974; Freire et al., 2011)
(Figure-4).
During the field observations, an unusual
behavior in Brachyura could be noticed: the sally
lightfoot jumps from a rock to another. Two scenes of
G. grapsus jumping were recorded (Videos 1, 2 and 3).
This behavior was observed for both males and
females, and juveniles and adults. A total of 12
observations were performed. In a first moment, it can be
an useful strategy to prevent predation, as described to
the species which will be discussed below. Besides, this
type of movement could be important to escape from the
wave wash (Video 1) or to avoid entering into the water
(Video 2), instead of walking through the water to reach
another point of the rocks. They also seem to jump from
a lower to a higher rock (Video 3). Kramer (1967) also
observed this behavior in a population of G. grapsus
from Galapagos. He noticed that the jumpy crabs had an
average carapace width of 30 cm. The crabs from FNA
were not measured, but it was clear that they did not
reach 10 cm CW. Before jumping, the crab aligns the
body by stretching the front running pairs of legs on
(Kramer, 1967), which was also noticed in the present
study.
Some other interesting information was found in
the literature, regarding the locomotion of crabs. The
species Armases roberti (H. Milne Edwards, 1853)
(Sesarmidae) is found along river banks between rocks
and stones, as well as on the vegetation (Chace and
Hobbs, 1969). According to Schubart and Diesel (1998),
when these crabs are disturbed, they jump from the trees
into the water, and due to this behavior, they are know in
the Caribbean as “jumpy crabs”. Thus, this behavior
could be related to a defensive attitude. A similar
behavior was also registered for Percnon gibbesi (H.
Milne-Edwards, 1853) (Percnidae) by Deudero et al.,
(2005); the specimens, observed in shallow waters, run
and jump when threatened, seeking for shelter from
predators.
The crabs Sesarma trapezoideum H. Milne
Edwards, 1837 (Sesarmidae) occur preferentially in
riverine cliffs near water streams (Jeng et al., 2003).
According to these authors, these crabs retreat into
crevices or jump into the water below them when
disturbed; few minutes after that, they climb back to the
cliff. The species Leptograpsus variegatus (Fabricius,
1793) (Grapsidae), a supralittoral crab of rocky shores as
G. grapsus, jump into tidal pools or into the sea to escape
from predation (Greenaway et al., 1992).
CONCLUSIONS
All these mechanisms described in literature are
related to a fast escape from danger, such as predation,
including jumping into the water. But during the field
observations of G. grapsus, it could be noticed that the
specimens also jump from a rock to another, which could
be useful to escape from the wave wash or to avoid
entering into the water. They also seem to jump to a
higher rock. However, further studies on this feature are
still necessary. For example, to test if there is difference
in the jumping frequency between sexes and age classes,
as well as or to correlate the distance or amplitude of the
jumps with the body size of the crab.
Araújo, 2014
Journal of Research in Biology (2014) 4(4): 1357-1364 1361
Figure 4. Crabs of the species Grapsus grapsus
(Linnaeus, 1758) from the rocky shore at Sueste
Bay, Fernando de Noronha Archipelago.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author is thankful to Maurício de Sá Leitão
Dévé, Silvia de Sá Leitão Dévé e Jean Luc Dévé for
aiding in the field work and footage of the species. I also
thank Dr. Christoph Schubart for bringing me
informations regarding crabs' behavior, which helped me
describing the 'jumpy' grapsoids of Fernando de Noronha
Archipelago.
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