Hvs. Peeke et al., SEX-DIFFERENCES AND PRIOR RESIDENCE EFFECTS IN SHELTER COMPETITION INJUVENILE LOBSTERS, HOMARUS-AMERICANUS MILNE-EDWARDS, Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology, 229(1), 1998, pp. 149-156
Using a resident-intruder paradigm, a four-experiment study of competi
tion for a single shelter between same- and mixed-sex dyads of juvenil
e lobsters, Homarus americanus Milne-Edwards, revealed a significantly
greater advantage for male residents than female residents against in
truders of either sex. However, there was no significant direct compet
itive advantage for residents of one sex over intruders of the other,
as occurs for adult males over females in this species. There was a pr
ior residence effect only in the male-male dyad condition. Unexpectedl
y, there was a reliable intruder advantage in female-female dyads. The
methods employed showed that the shelter-seeking response of the juve
nile lobster is a phylogenetic adaptation and that juvenile aggressive
behavior differs little in form from that of adult lobsters but appea
rs to be more intense. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reser
ved.