Past energy allocation overwhelms current energy stresses in determining energy allocation trade-offs.

Regeneration of lost appendages is a gradual process in many species, spreading energetic costs of regeneration through time. Energy allocated to the regeneration of lost appendages cannot be used for other purposes and, therefore, commonly elicits energetic trade-offs in biological processes. We used limb loss in the Asian shore crab to compare the strength of energetic trade-offs resulting from historic limb losses that have been partially regenerated versus current injuries that have not yet been repaired.

Latitudinal and temporal variation in injury and its impacts in the invasive Asian shore crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus.

Nonlethal injury is a pervasive stress on individual animals that can affect large portions of a population at any given time. Yet most studies examine snapshots of injury at a single place and time, making the implicit assumption that the impacts of nonlethal injury are constant. We sampled Asian shore crabs Hemigrapsus sanguineus throughout their invasive North American range and from the spring through fall of 2020.

Metabolic rates of the Asian shore crab in air as a function of body size, location, and injury.

Rapid warming in the Gulf of Maine may influence the success or invasiveness of the Asian shore crab, . To better predict the effects of climate change on this invasive species, it is necessary to measure its energy dynamics under a range of conditions. However, previous research has only focused on the metabolism of this intertidal species in water.