Metabolic response to temperature stress in the Colombian freshwater crab Neostrengeria macropa (H. Milne Edwards, 1853) (Decapoda: Brachyura: Pseudothelphusidae)

Abstract

Freshwater crustaceans are distributed throughout the montane and lowland areas of Colombia, and are therefore a useful indicator group for how aquatic species will respond to climate change. As such, metabolic determination of physiological performance was evaluated for the Colombian pseudothelphusid crab, Neostrengeria macropa (H. Milne Edwards, 1853), over a temperature range inclusive of current temperatures and those predicted by future scenarios in the plateau around the city of Bogotá, namely from 8 °C to 30 °C. The performance results mostly aligned with previous exploratory behavioral determination of the ideal temperature range in the same species, although the metabolism increased at the highest temperature treatments, a point when exploratory behavior declined. These results indicate that this species of montane crab behaviorally compensates for increased thermal stress by decreasing its physical activity, which could have negative predator-prey consequences with changes to community structure as different species undergo climate-mediated geographic range shifts in the region. As this species is endemic to the plateau surrounding Bogotá, it also experiences a number of other stressors to its survival, including infrastructure development and invasive species.