Ultrastructure of the mouthparts and food habits of the Grapsid crab, Metopograpsus messor (Forskal, 1775) from different habitats of the Egyptian Red Sea Coasts. | ||
| Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, B. Zoology | ||
| Article 5, Volume 6, Issue 2, December 2014, Pages 29-46 PDF (561.18 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/eajbsz.2014.13485 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Maged M.A. Fouda1; Moustafa M. H. Sarhan1; Ahmad Hamed Obuid-Allah2; Abd Allah Tharwat Abd Allah1; Mohsen A.Hafez Moustafa1 | ||
| 1Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Assiut Branch, Egypt. | ||
| 2Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt. | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Like all other decapods, the grapsid crab, Metopograpsus messor has mouth parts composed of six pairs of modified appendages. The present study revealed the structural significance of this complexity and the feeding habits of this species. Scanning electron microscope was used for examination of the mouth parts of the specimens collected from two different habitats. No differences were found neither in the structure of mouth parts nor in food analyses. The feeding habits showed that M. messor is opportunistic omnivore feeding on a wide variety of benthic organisms including algae, epifaunal animals as well as dead fish and other decayed animals in addition to higher plants particularly decomposed sea grass leaves and mangrove. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Ultrastructure; Mouthparts; Crustacea; Metopograpsus messor | ||
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