PREDATOR PREY INTERACTIONS BETWEEN BLUE CRABS AND RIBBED MUSSELS LIVING IN CLUMPS

Predator-prey interactions between blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and ribbed mussels (Geukensia demissa) were studied by manipulating different components of mussel clump structure in the laboratory to test their effects on the mussels' susceptibility to crab predation. Mussels with stronger attachment strength or those buried deeper in the sediment suffered lower mortality. Blue crabs showed no significant size selectivity when two size classes of mussles (30-40 and 50-60 mm in shell heights) were offered. When juvenile mussels were attached to adult conspecifics and completely buried in the centres of clumps as in the field, blue crabs did not actively search for them. The crabs, however, did consume juveniles as by-products when they preyed upon the adult mussels to which the juveniles were attached. © 1991.