Feeding Efficiency of mud crab Scylla Olivecea

with claw and without claw

A TERM PAPER

Presented to

PROF. RONALD J. MALIAO

In partial fulfillment
Of the requirements for the subject
FT3 – PHYSIOLOGY OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS
Introduction

Mud crabs are one of the most widely sought crustacean species that inhabit the
estuarine areas and tidal rivers and creeks of the Asian and Indo-Pacific regions. Hailed
as "food for the gods," the mud crab is recognized as a candidate species for culture in
brackishwater ponds and/or other suitable impounded brackishwater environments.
(Baliao,2000)

These crabs belong to the Portunidae family. They are the large type of crab with
smooth, broad carapace and possess sizeable claws that is used for crushing and
cutting pey. Their two hind legs were flattened and is used for swimming. Generally, its
colors are very dark brown to mottled green. The juvenile’s feed on the planktonic
animals, benthic molluscs and crustaceans while the adults feed on bivalve and
gastropod molluscs (mussles and pipis), small crabs and polychaete worms. The mud
crab can grow in approximately 24 centimeters carapace width and 3.5 kilograms in
weight.

It has four species or types namely, Scylla serrata, Scylla Tranquebarica, Scylla
Paramamosain and Scylla Olivace. They are the main focus for both commerical
fisheries and aquaculture production all over its distribution.

Differences in the morphological and mechanical features of crab claws reflect their
function and account for many of the observed differences in prey handling techniques
and foraging behaviour. Claws, however, have functions other than feeding and these
can confound simple correlations between form, strength and feeding habits.

Species feeding predominantly on rapidly moving prey typically have fast, weaker acting
claws whereas those specialising on heavily-armoured molluscan prey have claws that
are slower but more powerful. Complex shell opening behaviour or specialised claw
morphology can sometimes compensate for limited crushing power. Claw characteristics
and foraging behaviour also vary geographically; thus, compared with their temperate
water counterparts, tropical crabs generally are considered to be more specialised for
attacking hard-shelled molluscan prey, possibly as a result of prolonged and intense
coevolution between these predators and their prey.

Most crabs forage selectively on small-sized molluscan prey well below the critical size
that can be opened. The reasons for such size-selection are not entirely clear but
energy maximisation, time minimisation, or the risk of claw damage associated with
attacks on larger more resistant prey have been suggested as causal factors. The
structural and ecological features evolved by molluscan prey that effectively reduce the
risk of predation and thus facilitate the continued coexistence of predator and prey are
also briefly considered. (Elsevier, 1995)

As stated in the research of Milke and Kennedy (2005), The claw characteristics of mud
crabs were examined to determine if one crab species was potentially more powerful
than the other. There were high correlations between claw width or height and claw
length, and between claw length and carapace width for both mud crab species. The
mechanical advantage or “grip strength’ of the crusher and cutter claws of both species
did not change with crab size (carapace width) and did not differ between sexes in each
species, nor did the cutter data differ between species.

Objective

1. To determine if mud crab Scylla Olivecea can be fed efficiently with a claw or without
claw

Review of Related Literature (RRL)

Evaluation of Different Larval Feeds for Survival and Development of Early Stage Mud
Crab (Scylla olivacea)

Mud crabs (Scylla olivacea) commonly found along the coast of Gulf and
Andaman sea of Thailand, contribute to well-being and socioeconomics of coastal
fisherfolks. In 2002, Thailand exported over 3,900 metricton of mud crab, generated
significant income to the fishers culturists . However, the population of mud crab is
under threatened and has continuously declined over years due to many reasons such
as the destruction and polluting of mud crab habitats, the over-exploitation and
undersized catching of mud crab (Ronquillo et al., 1998).

The concerns on the decline of crabs have brought about the attempts in
conservation of wild crab stocks and increase population through aquaculture. For the
latter, although the success in mass propagation of mud crab seeds is achieved, high
mortality usually occurs at the stage of zoea and megalopa. Many causes of mortality
are speculated and one of the most concern is focused on the proper use of larval feed
and feeding management in the early stage of mud crab. In normal practice,rotifer and
artemia are usually used as early feed for mud crab (Treece and Davis, 2000). These
zooplankton are well nutritional defined for fish and crab larvae. However, the
preparation process and cost are usually not attractive so the proper choices and
feeding management may be the key success for larvae nursing.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of various early feed for
mud crabs either feeding solely or in combination of two types on the survival and
development of mud crab in zoea and megalopa stage. The result from this study would
provide the information for the improvement of early feeds and feeding management
for larval crab which may contribute to the reduction of mortality of mud crab larvae.

Materials And Methods

The studies were conducted into two experiments. Experiment 1 was to evaluate
the effects of different early feed on survival and development of zoea 1 to zoea 5.
Experiment 2 was carried out for the same objective from megalopa stage to the first
crab stage.

Experiment 1

Preparation of experimental larval crab An ovigerous female crab obtained from

a private farm was brought to the hatchery of the Ranong Coastal Aquaculture Station
and acclimatized in a 50-l plastic tank containing 30 ppt sea water with aeration. The
crab was daily fed with chopped trash fishes and squids at 0700 and 1800 hours and
raised until maturation and spawned. Hatched zoea 1 (Z1) were collected and randomly
used for further experiments.

Experimental Feed And Sea Water

Larval feeds used in the experiment were rotifer (R), artemia (A), copepod (C),
and microencapsulate feed (M). Rotifer was prepared by cultivation with chorella in a
200-l fiberglass tank at 30 ppt salinity . Artemia obtained from hatching of commercial
artemia cyst, copepod used was the thawed copepod. Microencapsulated feed was from
commercially available. Natural raw sea water of 26-28 ppt salinity was obtained from a
private hatchery. It was stocked in a 20-ton concrete tank and treated with 30 ppm
calcium hyperchlorite and allowed three days for the chloride evaporation before
utilization. Salinity of treated sea water was adjusted to 30 ppt by using NaCl .
Experimental Management

The experiments were carried out in 18 stylofoam boxes of 31.0 × 43.5 × 29.5
cm3,each containing 15-l of prepared sea-water. The boxes were randomly assigned to
six treatments with three replications each. The treatments were different in either
larval food type, their combination and/or sequence of feeding as shown in Table I.
Three allotments of 100 zoea 1 mud crab were randomly stocked in each stylofoam box
to contain 300 zoeae. Throughout the experiment 1, zoea 1 were fed once a day in the
morning according to the designed schemes.

At stage of zoea 1, all treatments were fed with the different single early feeds
till the development to stage of zoea 2. Then the combination of the feeds used in zoea
1 and another type of early feeds were applied for respective treatments till the zoea 2
- zoea 5, where the combination of feeds were used, the amount of early feeds were 15
individual/ml, 5 individual/ml, 5 individual/ml and 2 mg/l for rotifer, artemia, copepod
and microencapsulate, respectively. Therefore, the amounts of previous feed used in
zoea 1 were reduced to half when used in combination.

During daily water exchange, live zoea were siphoned from the stylofoam boxes
to the containers. The boxes were cleaned and refilled with sea water. Zoea were then
picked up from the containers by a wide-bore pipette, the number were recorded and
returned to their respective boxes.

Survival rate of zoea (%) and the developmental period (days) from zoea 1 to
zoea 5 were determined and subjected to statistical analysis.

Experiment 2

The experiment 2 was to study the influences of feed on the development of

megalopa to the first crab stage . Five treatments set up with different types of feed
were used for the experiment as follows Treatment 1: newly hatched artemia (A)
Treatment 2: finely ground mollusc meat (GM) Treatment 3: newly hatched artemia +
black tiger larval shrimp feed (A+F) Treatment 4: newly hatched artemia + finely
ground mollusc meat (A+GM) Treatment 5: black tiger larval shrimp feed + finely
ground mollusc meat (F+GM).

Experiment 2 was carried out in 15 stylofoam boxes as in the experiment 1. A

piece of foam with twelve cut holes of 8 cm in diameter was floated within each box.
This foam was for holding twelve punched-plastic cups, each containing only a
megalopa to prevent cannibalism. Each box contained 20 liter of 30 ppt salinity sea
water. The boxes were randomly allocated to each of five treatments with three
replications.

Megalopa were daily fed with their respective treatments right after daily water
change. Artemia, finely ground mollusc meat, black tiger larval shrimp feed were fed to
megalopa at the rate of 10 individuals/ml, 0.1g/megalopa and 0.1 g/ megalopa,
respectively. For those treatments with the combination schemes, the quantities of food
were reduced to half for each item. Survival rate (%) and developmental period (days)
of first crab of all treatments were analyzed for statistical difference.

Data Analysis

Survival rate (%) and developmental period (days) influenced by different food
types in both experiments were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance. Mean
differences were determined by Duncan’s new multiple range test at 95% confident
level. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software.

Results

Table 1 and Figure 1 showed the influences of different larval foods on survival
rate of zoea in each stage. Survival rates of zoea 1 which developed to zoea 2 were not
signficantly different (P>0.05) among treatments 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. For treatment 6,
zoea 1 survived to zoea 2 at lower percentage than those in other treatments.

Accumulated high mortality in almost all treatments were observed during the
development of zoea 1 to zoea 3. Zoea 3 where treatments 1, 2 and 4 survived only 46,
40 and 43%, respectively, but still were higher (P>0.05) than those of other
treatments. It was obvious that zoea1 raised on treatment 6 was hardly survived to
zoea 3 as its survival rate was only 0.45%. The survival rate of zoea1 developed to
zoea 4 were 16, 11, 4, 12, 0.11 and 0% for treatments 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, respectively.

The survival of zoea 5 developed from zoea 1 were only 14% and 10% for those
fed with treatments 1 and 4, while the survival to zoea 5 in the other treatments were
almost none. The developmental period from zoea 1 to zoea 5 in treatments 1, 2, 3, 4
and 5 were 20.67, 28.00, 25.50, 21.67 and 29.00 days, respectively (Table 2). For
treatment 6, zoea 1 failed to develop to zoea 5 since 100% mortality was observed in
zoea 4. Table 3 and Figure 2 showed the result of the second experiment. The survival
rate of the first crab stage developed from megalopa was the highest (75%) for those
fed on artemia.

This survival rate was not significantly different (P>0.05) from those given
artemia in combination with black tiger larval shrimp feed (treatment 3) or finely
ground mollusc meat (treatment 4). The lowest survival rate (19%) was found in
megalopa fed solely on finely ground mollusc meat (treatment 2). Development periods
for megalopa developed to the first crab stage were observed at the range of 11 to 15
days. These periods were not significantly different ( P>0.05) among treatments.

Effects of tank colour on larval survival and development of mud crab Scylla
serrata (Forskål)

Hatchery culture of mud crabs has not yet achieved commercial viability despite
decades of research efforts. Further research is therefore needed to better understand
larval culture requirements of the crab. Based on anecdotal observations, an
experiment was carried out to test whether the background colour of the culture vessel
affected larval culture success. Newly hatched larvae of Scylla serrata were reared in
culture vessels of five colours, i.e., black, dark green, maroon, sky blue and white.
Larval survival and development were monitored daily until all of them either moulted
to the first crab stage or died.

The results showed clear effects of background colour on larval survival. A

general tendency of higher larval survival in darker‐coloured backgrounds was evident.
In particular, overall zoeal survival for larvae reared in black vessels was significantly
higher than those reared in white ones. Background colour also appeared to affect
larval development. Larvae reared in darker backgrounds generally had shorter
development times and more synchronized moulting.

A significant delay in zoeal development was observed in larvae reared in white

vessels. Dark backgrounds possibly facilitated more efficient feeding, reduced
settlement of larvae at the bottom of the vessels as well as minimized stress. This result
appears to be the first to demonstrate that background colour can significantly affect
larval survival and development of a crustacean species.
The natural diet of the mud crab Scylla olivacea (Herbst, 1896) in
Pichavaram mangroves, India

The mud crabs belong to genus Scylla, a fast growing species that attains larger
size among portunids and is widely distributed throughout the coastal zones of the
Indo-Pacific region (MacNae, 1968). They represent a valuable component of
traditional, small scale coastal fisheries in several tropical and subtropical Southeast
Asian countries which stands as a significant commodity that fetches a high price in the
international seafood market (BOBP, 1992). Mud crabs form the ‘candidate species for
aquaculture’ owing to its winsome qualities such as faster growth, larger size, high
reproductive capacity (fecundity), disease resistance, marketability, adaptability to
farming systems etc. Over the last three decades, exploitation of mud crab populations
has increased tremendously in many countries in South East Asia.

For the last 50 years, confusion prevails over the taxonomic nomenclature of the
genus Scylla, and in particular regarding the number of species existing within the
genus. Revised taxonomy of the genus Scylla through biotechnological approach proved
the occurrence of four species (S. serrata, S. tranquebarica, Scylla olivacea and S.
paramamosain) (Keenan et al., 1998). This recent revision with the aid of molecular
tools creates ambiguity over previous works done regarding the identification of species
of genus Scylla. Most of the earlier work on mud crabs mention the monospecific term
S. serrata and as per the revised taxonomy, it unravels the fact that different species of
genus Scylla might be erroneously treated as S. serrata.

The study of food and feeding based upon the analysis of stomach content has
become a standard practice (Hyslop, 1980). Stomach content analysis provides
important insights into feeding patterns and its quantitative assessment is an important
aspect in fisheries management. Natural feeding activities of genus Scylla has been well
recorded in S. serrata (Arriola, 1940, Chacko, 1956, Hill, 1976, Hill, 1979, Williams,
1978, Lee, 1992, Joel and Raj, 1986, Prasad and Neelakantan, 1988, Mamun et al.,
2008). However, despite the ecological and economical importance of S. olivacea little
information is available on its food and feeding habits. The present work is the first
register on the food and feeding habits of S. olivacea from Indian waters, describing its
prey and feeding intensity which was carried out separately for males and females of
different size groups.
Materials and methods

Sampling and laboratory procedures

Live specimens of S. olivacea were collected during the early morning hours from
Pichavaram mangrove ecosystem (11°29′N, 79°46′E) situated between the Vellar and
Coleroon estuaries in Tamilnadu, on the south east coast of India, for a period of two
years (June 2010–May 2012). The crabs were caught by local fisherman employing gill
nets. The species were confirmed as S. olivacea from DNA barcoding and morphometric
analysis (Viswanathan et al., 2012). The gut content was analyzed for a total of 1737
specimens comprising 843 males (Carapace width (CW) ranging from 45 mm to 148
mm) and 894 females (CW ranges from 45 mm to 140 mm). The collected crabs were
recorded for size, sex and weight individually, dissected to weigh the gut contents.

Data analysis

Based on the gut, seven gut replenishment categories were established using a
method modified from Wear and Haddon (1987): empty (when the wall was shrinking;
devoid of food particles), trace (gut was filled by trace amount of food components), ¼
full (partially filled), ½ full (half full), ¾ full (when it was partially in distorted condition
and the wall being thick), full (when the gut was filled with food normally, its wall being
thick and intact) and gorged (gut expanded completely packed with food, with its wall
thin and transparent). Analysis of stomach contents was made at room temperature
with the aid of a binocular dissecting microscope. According to the rate of fullness, the
stomach was allotted points ranging from 0 to 100. For the purpose of comparison, the
‘gorged’ and ‘full’ stomach conditions were grouped as ‘actively fed’; whereas ‘¾ full’
and ‘½ full’ stomach conditions were grouped as ‘moderately fed’ and ‘¼ full’ and
‘trace’ as ‘poorly fed’.

Based on this, the quantitative scoring method of PP (modified from Williams,

1981) was based on point scores of the relative contribution of each prey category to
the total volume of material in each stomach: a prey representing 0–10% of the
stomach contents were awarded 10 points; 10–20% were awarded 20 points; 20–40%
were awarded 40 points; 40–60% were awarded 60 points; 60–80% were awarded 80
points and 80–100% was awarded 100 points. These points were multiplied by a value
dependent on the degree of foregut stomach (¼ full: ½ full: full: gorged). The various
components of food were recognized and categorized into major taxa. Semi-digested
leafy and algal matters and debris were categorized as detritus. ‘Miscellaneous’ includes
unidentified items and those appeared in a juice form. Mud and sand were easily
identified by appearance.

The differences in the food composition between size and sex of S. olivacea were
tested using a statistical routine named Similarity of Percentage (SIMPER) in PRIMER
(ver. 6.1) package developed by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK (Clark and
Warwick, 2001). In SIMPER analysis, for the sake of convenience, all the 13 size ranges
were pooled into 3 groups as follows: 45–52 mm to 69–76 mm size groups represented
as a group I; 77–84 mm to 101–108 mm size groups framed as group II; 109 mm to
141–148 mm size groups (In the case of females, 109 mm to 133–140 mm size groups
formed as group III).

Results

Gut content composition

Sizewise variation

The analysis of diet in the gut of different size groups of males and females was
consolidated separately (Table 1, Table 2). In males, the results were pooled up and
the average was derived; which proved that crustaceans (37.33%) formed the chief
food item followed by molluscs (23.62%), fish (14.22%), detritus (11.76%), mud and
sand (7.07%) and miscellaneous items (5.16%); whereas in females, crustaceans
(34.74%) figured as the prime food item followed by molluscs (23.96%), fish (15.97%),
detritus (12.03%), mud and sand
(7.63%) and miscellaneous (5%).

Table 1. Major food groups in

various size groups of male crab.
 Table 2. Major food groups in various size
groups of female crab.

Monthwise variation

In males, the results of the monthwise variation in gut contents showed

that S. olivacea prefers crustaceans as prime food with 34.03%, followed by
molluscs with 24.36%, fish with 15.19%, detritus with 12.9%, mud and sand
with 6.96% and miscellaneous with 5.88% (Table 3). In females, the results of
monthwise variation in food composition reveal that crustaceans (32.83%)
forms the major food item followed by molluscs (24.42%), fish (14.93%),
detritus (13.54%), mud and sand (6.68%) and miscellaneous items (7.02%)
(Table 4).

Table 3. Major food groups in various months of male crabs.

Table 4. Major food groups in various months of female crabs.

Feeding intensity

Size variation

No significant variation was observed in the feeding intensity between different

size groups in males. Among the different size groups, the stomach condition was
placed in its order of descent as ‘empty’, ‘trace’, ‘¼ full’, ‘½ full’, ‘¾ full’, ‘full’ and
‘gorged’ with 23.68%, 5.31%, 6.46%, 12.01%, 14.63%, 20.67% and 16.35%
respectively (Fig. 1). In general, among the various size groups of females, the stomach
condition was placed as ‘empty’ (21.56%), ‘trace’ (5.77%), ‘¼ full’ (10.18%), ‘½ full’
(13.67%), ‘¾ full’ (14.70%),
‘full’ (19.70%) and ‘gorged’
(13.82%) (Fig. 2).

Figure 1. Gut fullness

(feeding intensity) in various size
groups of male crab.
Figure 2. Gut fullness (feeding
intensity) in various size groups of
female crab.

Monthwise

The condition of stomach content monthwise in male S. olivacea was

‘empty’, ‘trace’, ‘¼ full’, ‘½ full’, ‘¾ full’, ‘full’ and ‘gorged’ with 23.03%,
4.74%, 8%, 12.51%, 13.37%, 23.25% and 14.28% respectively (Fig. 3). The
month wise pooled data on the intensity of feeding in males portrays that the
percentage of poorly fed crabs
ranged from 9% (Jan) to 30%
(December); moderately fed to
range between 28% (June) and
46% (September); actively fed
observed with the minimum
percentage (29%) in October and
maximum percentage (63%) in
January (Table 5).

Figure 3. Gut fullness (feeding

intensity) during various months of male crabs.

Table 5. Feeding intensity (percentage of

fullness) of the mud crab S. olivacea.

In females, the pooled data for

the feeding intensity showed that the
percentage fullness of stomach showed
empty (22.96%), trace (4.44%), ¼ full
(8.99%), ½ full (14.86%), ¾ full
(14.87%), full (20.72%) and gorged
(12.33%) (Fig. 4). Monthwise data on feeding intensity clearly indicate that the
poorly fed crabs were minimal (11%) in March and May and maximum (28%)
in July; moderately fed crabs were minimal (30%) in June and maximum
(50%) in October; actively fed crabs were minimal (26%) in October and
maximum (55%) in January month (Table 5).

Figure 4. Gut fullness

(feeding intensity) during various
months of female crabs.

SIMPER analysis between size groups

The results of SIMPER analysis for male crabs are tabulated in Table 6.
The order of average dissimilarity between the groups was 14.63% between
group I and II, 15.22% between group II and III, and 25.48% between group I
and III. The dissimilarity between lowest size groups (group I) and highest
size groups (group III) was found to be higher. Between groups I and II, the
food items are characterized as crustaceans, fish, detritus, molluscs and
miscellaneous. Between groups I and III, the food items such as crustaceans,
fish, detritus and molluscs are characterized. Between groups II and III, the
food items are characterized as crustaceans, molluscs, fish, detritus and
miscellaneous.
Methodology

Research Design

This study is a combination of Quantitative and Qualitative Research and will be using a
basic statistical analysis.

Locale of the Study

The study will be conducted at the Dumlog Fishpond in Brgy. Poblacion, New
Washington, Aklan. The study will be conducted for the Months of April-May 2020.

Sample Size and Sampling Technique

There will be 12 matured male mud crabs (S. Olivacea) used as the samples for the
whole duration of the study. The sample must be at 3-4.5 inches body width. In overall,
there will be 36-54 kilos od male mud crabs used as sample in the entire study.

Feeds

The feeds to be used by the researcher in feeding the crabs are waste fish or sardines.

Data Gathering and Analysis Procedure

The researcher will secure an approved letter from the University to conduct the study.
The researcher will be having 12 samples of a male mud crab with the size of 3-4.5
inches and the weight will be measured. The researchers will be using an improvised
crab cage for the entire research, it will be a 6 liter absolute gallon or any related size;
then the uper part of the absolute gallon will be cut out and there will be small holes on
the lower part of the gallons for water and crab respiration purposes.

For the security of the crab, the researchers will put a Fish net at the upper part and
sealed it with a removable seal; so there will be 12 cages for the entire study, 6 cages
for the crabs with claws and 6 other cages for the crabs without claws. The crabs will
be put at the respective improvised cages and acclimatized it.

Before putting on the cages, the weight and leght of the mud crab will be measured,
the same with the pH, salinity and temperature of the water used will also monitored. It
will be measured every 8 AM and 5 PM every day. In terms of feeding, same process
will be conducted and before feeding, the foods will be measured same as the weight of
the crabs. The data that will be gathered and analyzed using basic statistical tools,
weight measurement, graphs and other statistical materials will be used also; the
researchers will find out if which of the two crabs, the feeds that is being applied to is
efficient to both crabs with claw and without claw.

References:

http://www.fao.org/3/ba0110e/ba0110e00.htm

https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/content/fisheries/recreational/saltwater/sw-species/mud-
crab

Different Larval Feeds for Survival and Development of Early Stage Mud Crab (Scylla olivacea) Pattanee
Jantrarotai1, Praphaphan Temphakdee1 and Suparp Pripanapong(2004); Evaluation of Different Larval
Feeds for Survival and Development of Early Stage Mud Crab (Scylla olivacea);
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.616.5279&rep=rep1&type=pdf#page=64

Rabbani,A., Zeng,C.; Effects of tank colour on larval survival and development of mud
crab Scylla serrata; June 16,2005; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-
2109.2005.01328.x