Marin I.N.1, Sinelnikov S.Yu.2 2016. Diversity and ecological features of symbiotic communities associated with large hermit crabs along the southern part of the Russian coast of the Sea of Japan // Arthropoda Selecta. Vol.25. No.2: 171–182 [in English].
1 A.N. Severtzov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of RAS, Leninsky prosp. 33, Moscow, 117071, Russia. E-mail: coralliodecapoda@mail.ru
2 I.D. Papanin Institute for biology of inland waters of RAS, Borok, Nekouzsky region, Yaroslavl oblast, 152742 Russia. E-mail: sinelnikoff@yandex.ru
KEY WORDS: Symbiosis, communities, associations, Decapoda, Paguroidea, Amphipoda, Polychaeta, hermit crab, ecological niche, competition, localization, the Sea of Japan.
ABSTRACT. The paper presents a preliminary description of several most typical symbiotic communities formed in association with large subtidal hermit crabs in the Russian waters of the Sea of Japan. The annotated list of macrosymbionts found on hermit-crabs is presented. Localization on the host and possible competitive relationships with other symbionts are described for the number of model species of macrosymbionts.