Ontogeny of behavioural adaptations in beach crustaceans: some temporal considerations for integrated coastal zone management and conservation

So-called ‘‘typical’’ behavioural responses of coastal animals to particular stimuli have previously been shown often to vary cyclically in phase with diel or tidal cycles in the environment. Less well-studied are differences in the behaviour of adults and juveniles of the same species at the same time of day or tidal state, or in response to the same stimulus. Experimental studies of such differences in behaviour are reviewed and compared for three species of beach crustaceans, namely, the crab Carcinus maenas, the isopod Eurydice pulchra and the amphipod Orchestoidea tuberculata. Juvenile, but not adult, Carcinus will entrain circatidal rhythmicity after exposure to artificial tidal cycles of immersion/emersion; juvenile, but not adult, Eurydice express pronounced freerunning circatidal swimming rhythms at neap tides as well as at springs; and, in Orchestoidea, juveniles and adults express patterns of daily locomotor activity that are complementary, both on the shore and in the laboratory. These ontogenetic differences are discussed in relation to distributional and behavioural differences between adults and juveniles in each species, drawing attention to their adaptive significance and wider implications for coastal management and conservation.