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Zoological Science
Abstract
The Alpheus brevicristatus De Haan, 1844 is one of the commonest shrimp species inhabiting the tidal flats in Japan. This species is sometimes accompanied by the facultative symbiotic goby, Acentrogobius spp. Here, we investigated the burrow morphology of A. brevicristatus in a tidal flat of Uranouchi Inlet, Kochi Prefecture, Japan. We also reviewed existing literature on alpheid burrow morphology using the resin casting technique, to determine how burrows vary in the presence and absence of gobies. Nine burrows were casted in situ using polyester resin. All burrows were long, but shallow in structure, with several funnel-shaped openings and short cul-de-sac branches. This species appears to use several burrow openings to access the sediment surface for feeding with high efficiency. Gobies were not associated with all burrows cast; however, 1–3 individuals of the small alpheid shrimp Athanas japonicus Kubo, 1936 were entombed in seven of the casts. A review of 12 studies on the burrow morphology of 16 Alpheus species based on resin casting techniques showed wide variation in burrow characteristics, such as burrow depth, length, and number of openings. Our findings suggest that burrow structure is influenced by species-specific characteristics and sediment type. The possibility that the presence of the symbiotic goby affects the burrow morphology of Alpheus shrimp is discussed.
We valued the support and encouragement of the members of Laboratory of Marine Symbiotic Biology in Kochi University. We also thank Mr. K. Takashi (Japan Midori Chemistry Company) for providing useful information on polyester resin. We are grateful to Dr. M. Nara (Kochi University) for providing valuable literatures. This work was supported in part by Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows 15J12531 to YH, and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 16K07233 and the Asahi Glass Foundation to GI. We acknowledge Editage (www.editage.jp) for English language editing.
The authors have no competing interests to declare.
YH, CF, SK, YO and GI performed research and analyzed data. YH and GI wrote the paper. YH, CF, SK, YO and GI reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
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