Mémoire
| Résumé : | The feeding ecology and behaviour of Haberma tingkok were investigated in this study. Field surveys during low tides showed a higher occurrence of this species after dusk than during the day and right before sunset. No habitat preference between mangrove species (Kandelia obovata and Agiceras coniculatum) by H. tingkok were found. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses of eleven suspected non-animal food items from the mangroves revealed that epiphytic green filamentous algae, surface sediment and leaves of K. obovata and A. coniculatum are possible food sources of H. tingkok. Mangrove tree bark and epiphytic lichen were not found to be possible components of the diet of this species. Phylogenetic analyses of three Haberma and 24 selected sesarmid species with the use of a mitochondrial (COI) and a nuclear (NaK) marker confirmed the monophyly of the genus Haberma, and further supported the current theory of the origin of tree-climbing behaviour of mangrove crabs by convergent evolution. Genetic analysis in this study also presented the first record of H. tingkok outside Hong Kong and H. nanum outside Singapore. |
