Associação do caranguejo Holothuriophilus tomentosus Ortmann, 1872 (Crustacea: Innotheridae) Com o pepino-do-mar Duasmodactyla seguroensis (Deichmann, 1930) (Holothurioidea: Cucumariidae)

Abstract

The sea-cucumber, Duasmodactyla seguroensis Ortmann, 1872 is characterized by its living buried in sandyslimy substrates, at an average depth of 10 cm, but usually found also near the surface. It presents a long digestive tract with a big and large rectum. Holothuriophilus tomentosus is a small marine or estuarine crab. Adults may live free, mainly males, or associated with animals such as endocommensals, as parasites of bivalves, ascidians, on echinoderms or inhabiting polychaete tubules.This study reports, for the first time in Brazil, the presence of this crab inside the seacucumber H. tomentosus, where 50% of the samples were found, the majority of which being ovigerous females, found in the gut, respiratory tree and near to the calcareous ring. It is a known fact that these relationships often depend on food and space availability and on the increase in predation, which prevent these crabs from seeking shelter.