Day vs. night Calcinus hermit crab abundance on Millepora coral from Virgin Islands National Park in the Great Lameshure Bay, St. John, US Virgin Island from 2010-2011 (St. John LTREB project)

<p>The study was conducted in St. John within the Virgin Islands National Park (VINP). The majority of our analyses focused on the shallow fringing reefs of Great Lameshur Bay and was completed in 2010 and 2011. Surveys in July and August 2010 focused on the natural history of the association by evaluating <em>Millepora</em> spp. for colony size and population density of <em>C. tibicen</em>. Surveys were repeated between June 2011 and August 2011 and expanded to the north and east shores of St. John to test the generality of the observations initially made in 2010. In 2011, manipulative experiments were conducted to test the functional basis of the <em>Millepora</em>-<em>Calcinus</em> association and evaluate whether it could be described as a commensalism.</p>

<p>Related datasets:<br />
<a href=\"http://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/523358\">crab abundance and coral size</a><br />
<a href=\"http://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/523441\">crab displacement behavior</a><br />
<a href=\"http://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/523451\">crab predator avoidance</a></p>

<p>These data were published in&nbsp;Brown D, Edmunds PJ. (2013) The hermit crab <em>Calcinus tibicen</em> lives commensally on <em>Millepora</em> spp. in St. John, United States Virgin Islands. Coral Reefs 32.1: 127-135.</p>

<p><a href=\"http://dmoserv3.whoi.edu/data_docs/St_John_LTREB/Millepora_Calcinus_Data _for_2012_CoralReefs_BCODMO.xls\" target=\"_blank\">Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)</a></p>