Abstract

We investigated whether male Uca vocans (Linnaeus, 1758) have behaviourally or morphologically compensated for having only one feeding claw while females have two. We predicted that (1) females will have a higher feeding rate/crab per min, (2) males will have a higher feeding rate/claw per min, (3) males will have larger feeding claws (dactyl length and width) than comparable-sized females, and (4) smaller crabs will feed faster than larger ones and thereby satisfy their feeding demand more rapidly than larger crabs. Our results supported all four predictions. Males compensated for having one feeding claw by feeding faster/claw per min with larger claws.