EFFECTS OF NUTRITIVE STRESS UPON DIEL RHYTHMS, TOTAL TISSUE METABOLISM, AND TISSUE METABOLIC RATES IN CARCINUS MAENAS(L.) (CRUSTACEA: DECAPODA)

Crabs were collected in 1974 and their excited rates, diel rhythms, tissue weights, and tissue metabolic rates were measured after 3–5 weeks under controlled conditions. More crabs were collected in 1977 and measured immediately. Summated tissue rates were similar in both fed and starved crabs, as were the average rhythmic rates. However, the rhythmic pattern varied or was nonexistant, depending on feeding or prior condition. Gill and hepatopancreas tissue rates were higher in rhythmic crabs than in arhythmic ones, and there was a correlation between hepatopancreas tissue rates and the total crab dry wt/wet wt ratio.