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Seasonal Dynamics of Sex Ratio, Reproduction, and Parasite-specific Feminization in the Hermit Crab Pagurus filholi at a Fixed Coastal Site in Chiba, Japan
Asami Kajimoto*, Ayako Tanaka, Tsuyoshi Ohira, Kenji Toyota*
Asami Kajimoto
Department of Bioresource Science, Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University, 1-4-4 Kagamiyama, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8528, Japan
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kanagawa University, 3-27-1 Rokkakubashi, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 221-8686, Japan
asami.yudansitemasu@gmail.com
Ayako Tanaka
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kanagawa University, 3-27-1 Rokkakubashi, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 221-8686, Japan
r202203707cl@jindai.jp
Tsuyoshi Ohira
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kanagawa University, 3-27-1 Rokkakubashi, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 221-8686, Japan
ohirat-bio@kanagawa-u.ac.jp
Kenji Toyota
Department of Bioresource Science, Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University, 1-4-4 Kagamiyama, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8528, Japan
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kanagawa University, 3-27-1 Rokkakubashi, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 221-8686, Japan
Department of Biological Science and Technology, Faculty of Advanced Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, 6-3-1 Niijuku, Katsushika, Tokyo 125-8585, Japan
toyotak@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
Communicated by Jens Thorvald Høeg

Reproductive output in intertidal crustaceans is reshaped by seasonal changes in host demography and its interaction with parasitic castration, yet parasite–species–resolved time series remain scarce for hermit crabs. We conducted year‐round monitoring of the hermit crab Pagurus filholi at a fixed intertidal site in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, with monthly sampling from January to December 2025. Hosts were sexed and female reproductive status (ovigerous vs. non-ovigerous) was recorded, and rhizocephalan infections were diagnosed by externa morphology and subsequently assigned to Peltogasterella gracilis or Peltogaster postica using DNA barcoding. Across 12 sampling occasions, 3,134 crabs were recorded (1,586 males; 1,548 females). Sex ratio varied significantly among months, shifting from female-biased in December (early winter)–May (late spring) to strongly male-biased in June (early summer) –November (late autumn). The proportion of ovigerous females also showed strong seasonality, peaking in mid-winter, declining through spring, reaching zero in August–September, and increasing again toward winter. Both parasites exhibited sharply seasonal prevalence with a pronounced June peak: for Peltogasterella gracilis, 29/166 in June vs. 8/2,968 in other months, and for Peltogaster postica, 19/166 vs. 36/2,968. Male secondary sexual morphology responded in a parasite-specific manner: infected males were more likely to bear a second pleopod, a female-specific egg-brooding structure, than males without externae, driven primarily by Peltogasterella gracilis (26/28) rather than Peltogaster postica (3/35). Together, these results provide a high-resolution baseline linking reproductive phenology and parasite-specific feminization in a single P. filholi population.

Keywords

Reproductive phenology, Sex ratio, Parasitism, Rhizocephala, Peltogasterella, Peltogaster

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Citation:

Kajimoto A, Tanaka A, Ohira T, Toyota K. 2026. Seasonal dynamics of sex ratio, reproduction, and parasite-specific feminization in the hermit crab Pagurus filholi at a fixed coastal site in Chiba, Japan. Zool Stud 65:36.

( Received 15 March 2025 / Accepted 15 June 2026 )