Foraging behaviour and mutual interference in the Mediterranean shore crab, Carcinus aestuarii, preying upon the immigrant mussel Musculista senhousia

Predator–prey dynamics between the Mediterranean shore crab Carcinus aestuarii and the immigrant mussel Musculista senhousia were examined in laboratory experiments to assess the effects of varying predator and prey densities upon predator foraging rates and prey survival. The factorial design involved three predator and three prey densities, with four trials per treatment combination. Functional responses were differentiated statistically by analysis of the exponent b of a general functional response model. Shore crabs displayed type II (decelerating rise to an upper asymptote) inversely density-dependent functional responses at low and moderate predator densities, while a non-traditional model was probably more appropriate at high predator density. No densitydependent refuge was observed for M. senhousia, whereas, at high predator density, mutual interference among crabs was evident and prey mortality was lowered. Mediterranean shore crab’s combined functional and interference response, by affecting foraging rates, was important to the outcome of interactions between predators and the bivalve prey, and might play an important role in determining crab’s predatory behaviour and dispersion, and prey persistence, in the field.