| the nitrogen requirements and dietary nitrogen utilization for the gecarcinid land crab gecarcoidea natalis. | the nitrogen requirements for tissue maintenance, moulting, and oogenesis were determined experimentally for the herbivorous land crab gecarcoidea natalis. the maintenance nitrogen requirements for intermoult animals was very low (4.83+/-1.68 mmol n kg-1 dry body wt d-1), but during oogenesis the total requirement was much higher (8. 6 mmol n kg-1 dry body wt d-1). gecarcoidea natalis could potentially assimilate enough nitrogen from rain forest leaf litter or leaves of ficus or erythrina to sat ... | 2000 | 10801399 |
| ecology and behavior of gecarcoidea natalis, the christmas island red crab, during the annual breeding migration. | the terrestrial crab gecarcoidea natalis is endemic to the forests of christmas island but must migrate each year to the coast to breed. during 1993 and 1995, radio-tracking, mark and recapture, and counting methods were used to establish the routes, walking speeds, direction of travel, and destinations of migrating crabs, as well as crab numbers and distribution. the density of crabs ranged from 0.09 to 0.57 crabs per square meter, which gave a population estimate of 43.7 million adult crabs on ... | 2001 | 11441973 |
| metabolic status and respiratory physiology of gecarcoidea natalis, the christmas island red crab, during the annual breeding migration. | with the arrival of the monsoonal rains and after months of inactivity during the dry season, the terrestrial crab gecarcoidea natalis embarks on its annual breeding migration to the coast. the physiological demands of the migration were assessed by determining respiratory gases in the hemolymph, key metabolites, and energy stores in g. natalis during two migratory seasons. at the end of each day of migration the pulmonary hemolymph po2 decreased by 1-2.5 kpa, but the hemocyanin remained saturat ... | 2001 | 11441974 |
| regulation of urine reprocessing in the maintenance of sodium and water balance in the terrestrial christmas island red crab gecarcoidea natalis investigated under field conditions. | land crabs produce isosmotic urine but reduce salt loss by reabsorbing salt via the gills to produce a dilute excretory fluid (p). this branchial salt reclamation is regulated in response to changes in dietary salt availability. the regulation of branchial na reabsorption and osmotic status was investigated in the terrestrial crab gecarcoidea natalis on christmas island. confinement within field enclosures had no general effect on salt and water balance compared with crabs free in the rainforest ... | 2003 | 12847130 |
| recruitment dynamics in a rainforest seedling community: context-independent impact of a keystone consumer. | the influence of keystone consumers on community structure is frequently context-dependent; the same species plays a central organising role in some situations, but not others. on christmas island, in the indian ocean, a single species of omnivorous land crab, gecarcoidea natalis, dominates the forest floor across intact rainforest. we hypothesised that this consumer plays a key role in regulating seedling recruitment and in controlling litter dynamics on the island, independent of the type of v ... | 2008 | 18320231 |
| migration-related changes in gene expression in leg muscle of the christmas island red crab gecarcoidea natalis: seasonal preparation for long-distance walking. | during their annual breeding migration the christmas island land crab gecarcoidea natalis sustains locomotion aerobically for up to 12 h per day compared with just 10 min during the dry season when their muscles quickly become anaerobic. a seasonal transition to an endurance-muscle phenotype would thus seem essential for migrating crabs. the current study employed a gene discovery approach comparing two expressed sequence tag (est) libraries, one each for leg muscle from dry (non-migrating) and ... | 2010 | 20435825 |