Foraging by marine scavengers: Effects of relatedness, bait damage and hunger

Field studies using fish-baited creels have confirmed that Carcinus maenas, Necora puber and Pagurus bernhardus (Crustacea: Decapoda), Buccinum undatum (Gastropoda) and Asterias rubens (Echinodermata) are prominent scavenging species in shallow waters in the Clyde Sea area. Capture rates of these species by creels baited with dead fish plus variously damaged C. maenas were examined in the field. The addition of substantially fractured C. maenas significantly reduced the capture of conspecifics, but significantly enhanced the capture of the taxonomically unrelated species A. rubens. The remaining crustacean taxa (of the above) were unaffected by this treatment. The magnitude of th response was related strongly to the extent to which C. maenas were damaged. The effects of hunger on these responses were tested in a laboratory experiment in which the responses of starved and fed batches of C. maenas were investigated. Starved crabs remained attracted to fish bait, despite the proximity of dead conspecifics. Conversely, crabs of the fed batch were significantly more reluctant to enter creels containing damaged conspecifics. The localized presence of odours emanating from dead conspecifics did not cause crabs to remain inactive in shelter. We conclude that taxonomic relatedness to bait, degree of carcass damage and hunger of the scavenger all interact in determining foraging decision-making even by so-called generalist scavengers.