Latest news with #AriDrummond
BBC News
06-07-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Hairy claws make hermit crabs braver, Plymouth study finds
Hermit crabs scuttling along the UK's coastline may be bolder than they appear, especially those with more sensitive claws, according to new research from the University of study reveals that tiny hair-like structures called sensilla on the crabs' claws help them assess their surroundings and decide when it is safe to emerge from their shells. Crabs with more of these sensory hairs were found to recover more quickly and act more researchers hope their findings will inspire further studies into how sensory traits influence animal behaviour. Lead author Ari Drummond, a PhD researcher at the university, said: "I was especially intrigued by how hermit crabs use their claws and antennae when re-emerging from their shells. "The patterns I observed led me to wonder if they might be using their claws to assess environmental risk. "In a world where species face increasing threats, understanding how animals sense and respond to danger is vital."The team studied local hermit crabs in the lab, observing their reactions to being startled and later examining their moulted claw tissue under an electron microscope. This allowed them to count the number of sensilla without harming the findings suggested a link between sensory input and personality, a concept they have called "sensory investment syndrome".Prof Mark Briffa, senior author of the study, added: "We've long known that animals can behave differently from one another. "This research suggests that those differences may be rooted in how they sense the world around them."
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
What makes a hermit crab more bold? Hairy claws.
If you've ever sifted along a tide pool or visited a souvenir stand on a coastal boardwalk, you may have seen a hermit crab. These crustaceans that have been on Earth for roughly 500 million years, are always alert, monitoring their surroundings for any perceived threats. Like turtles, they will retract into their shells if they detect any danger. Once that initial shock passes, these crabs will use sensory organs in order to decide if it is safe to emerge and get back to business. To gather data about their surroundings, Pagurus bernhardus, a common hermit crab species, uses small hair-like structures called sensilla. According to a study published July 2 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, crabs with more of these sensory hairs on their claws appear to recover faster when startled and may make bolder decisions. These more hairy-clawed animals were also more predictable in how much time it took for them to recover from their initial fright. 'For this study, I was especially intrigued by how they used their claws and other sensory appendages, such as their antennae, in their explorations and when re-emerging from their shell,' Ari Drummond, a study co-author and marine biologist at the University of Plymouth in England, said in a statement. 'The patterns I observed led me to wonder if these hermit crabs might be using their claws to help assess risk from the environment.' Drummond and her team initially analyzed how individual Pagurus bernhardus hermit crabs responded when startled in a lab. They then waited for each crab to shed its skin and collected the moulted claw tissue. Next, they put the shed tissue under a scanning electron microscope at the Plymouth Electron Microscopy Centre (PEMC) to examine it in greater detail. The microscopes allowed the team to mark all of the sensilla on the surface of a crab's claw, without removing the limbs from living crustaceans. Lastly, they looked to see if the number of sensilla was related to the relative boldness of each individual crab. The analysis revealed that the bolder hermit crabs have more sensilla located on the claw's surface. Additionally, more sensilla appears to make the crab determine that the surrounding environment lacks risk more consistently. This basically suggests that more sensilla equals better access to information. This relationship between sensory ability and relative boldness led to a new hypothesis about how sensation and animal behavior could be linked. The team calls this 'sensory investment syndrome,' and hopes that it inspires more study into how sensory traits influence both animal personality and decision-making. 'We've known for a long time that individual animals of the same species can show consistent behavioural differences from one another,' study co-author and University of Plymouth marine biologist Mark Briffa said in a statement. 'Our new research suggests that in hermit crabs, some of this variation may be linked to how individuals sense the world around them. This possibility has been largely overlooked, but if sensory investment helps explain personality in hermit crabs, it may do so in other animals as well.' 'In a world where environments and species are increasingly at risk from human impacts on the environment, I believe it is essential that we gain a better understanding of what information animals detect, how they use that information and then respond to stay alive,' concluded Drummond.
