Habitat-based intraguild predation by Caribbean reef octopus Octopus briareus on juvenile Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus

摘要: Intraguild predation occurs when species simultaneously compete for resources and interact as predator and prey, which describes the interaction between juvenile Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus and Caribbean reef octopus Octopus briareus in the Florida Keys, USA. Octopuses are notorious predators of decapod crustaceans, and their use of crevice shelters suggests that they may also compete for shelter with their lobster prey. Lobsters use mainly chemical cues to detect and avoid octopus, so we hypothesized that the negative association between these species may be as much the consequence of avoidance of a superior competitor as it is of direct predation. Surveys of lobsters and octopuses occupying artificial shelters at 19 hard-bottom sites confirmed that lobsters do not share dens with octopuses, and also show that lobster and octopus abundances are negatively correlated. Tethering …