TY - JOUR AU - Varisco, Martin AU - Martín, Lucas AU - Zaixso, Héctor AU - Velasquez, Cecilia AU - Vinuesa, Julio PY - 2015/03/30 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Food and habitat choice in the spider crab Leucippa pentagona (Majoidea: Epialtidae) in Bahía Bustamante, Patagonia, Argentina JF - Scientia Marina JA - Sci. mar. VL - 79 IS - 1 SE - Articles DO - 10.3989/scimar.04060.29B UR - https://scientiamarina.revistas.csic.es/index.php/scientiamarina/article/view/1567 SP - 107-116 AB - The aim of the present study was to analyse the feeding strategy and spatial distribution of the spider crab <em>Leucippa pentagona</em> in Bahía Bustamante (Patagonia, Argentina). Several microhabitat variables that could influence the spatial distribution of this crab were related to its different life stages by using redundancy analysis. Regarding its feeding preferences, we found that the sphacelariales <em>Halopteris</em> spp. and <em>Sphacelaria fusca</em>, epiphytes of the alga <em>Gracilaria gracilis</em>, represented over 70% of its diet. Conversely, consumption of <em>G. gracilis</em> was low throughout the year. These feeding preferences can be related to the higher proportion of ash-free dry mass of sphacelariales. A close association was observed between <em>G. gracilis</em> biomass and recruits and mature crabs; this relationship was stronger at critical periods of the crab’s life cycle such as incubation or moult. Intermolt juveniles were related to <em>G. gracilis</em>0 as well as to other species of macroalgae. Our results suggest that <em>G. gracilis</em> plays a key role in the small-scale distribution of <em>L. pentagona</em> in Bahía Bustamante, providing food and shelter. The consumption of <em>G. gracilis</em> epiphytes allows L. pentagona to maintain high foraging rates at safe living sites, minimizing the damage to <em>G. gracilis</em>. ER -