ORCID

Abstract

Human impacts on the environment affect organisms at all levels of biological organisation and ultimately can change their phenotype. Over time, phenotypic change may arise due to selection but individual phenotypes are also subject to change via genotype × environment interactions. In animals, behaviour is the most flexible aspect of phenotype, and hence the most liable to change across environmental gradients including exposure to pollution. Here we review current knowledge on the impacts of pollution, broadly defined to include the release of substances, energy, and the effects of carbon emissions, on the behaviour of a highly studied group, the globally distributed hermit crabs. We first show how their obligate association with empty gastropod shells underpins their use as model organisms for the study of resource-assessment, contest, and risk-coping behaviours. Intense study of hermit crabs has advanced our understanding of how animals use information, and we discuss the ways in which pollutants can disrupt the cognitive processes involved. We then highlight current studies of hermit crabs, which paint a clear picture of behavioural changes due to multiple pollutants. Impacts on behaviour vary across pollutants and entire suites of behaviours can be influenced by a single pollutant, with the potential for interactive and cascade effects. Hermit crabs offer the opportunity for detailed behavioural analysis, including application of the repeated measures animal-personality framework, and they are highly amenable to experimental manipulations. As such, we show how they now provide a model system for studying the impacts of pollution on behaviour, yielding insights broadly applicable across animal diversity.

Publication Date

2024-01-01

Publication Title

Science of the Total Environment

Volume

906

ISSN

0048-9697

Acceptance Date

2023-09-24

Deposit Date

2023-09-26

Funding

We are grateful to three anonymous reviewers, whose constructive comments helped us to improve the manuscript. We also attribute the authors of the icons used in the graphical abstract, all obtained from thenounproject.com and used under a (CC BY 3.0) licence, as follows: Hermit crab by Farra Nugraha; Hermit crab by Hey Rabbit; Crab by YuguDesign; Starfish by Aficons; Fish by Andy Mc; Limpet by Phạm Thanh Lộc.

Keywords

Behaviour, HIREC, Hermit crab, Info-disruption, Microplastic, Ocean acidification, Pollution

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