Food Restrictions Affect the Larval Metamorphosis and Early Juvenile Performance in a Neotropical Mangrove Fiddler Crab ().

Sporadic fluctuations in food availability may affect larval biology and post-metamorphic development in many marine invertebrates. In an experimental study in the laboratory, we investigated whether different regimes (1, 3, and 5 days) of initial starvation or feeding affect the survival and duration of the last planktotrophic larval stage (, megalopa) of the neotropical mangrove fiddler crab . Newly metamorphosed crabs originating from megalopae starved for 1 and 3 days were cultured through the first 5 juvenile stages to further evaluate whether prior nutritional experience affects the post-larval performance of this species.