| ABSTRACT Defining the appropriate scale is important when trying to understand distribution patterns in community studies. Fiddler crabs are among the most common organisms inhabiting estuarine environments, and despite having a wide latitudinal distribution, are limited by shifts in temperature, current and wind pattern. Thus, many co-occur at a local scale, where their distribution is influenced by variables such as mean sediment grain diameter, salinity and tidal level. Our goal was to test intra and interspecific segregation in two similar and commonly co-occurring fiddler crabs species (Leptuca leptodactyla and Leptuca uruguayensis) at a small scale (10 m²). Interspecific segregation was observed, with L. leptodactyla occurring mainly at the upper... |
