Encope emarginata: Difference between revisions

Genus ''[[Dissodactylus]]'' are commensal or parasitic crabs found to live on the bodies of irregular echinoids, such as ''E. emarginata''. There is ongoing debate whether the size of ''E.emarginata'' influences the number of crabs found on it, where one study found a positive correlation<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Martinelli Filho |first1=José Eduardo |last2=dos Santos |first2=Ronan Brito |last3=Ribeiro |first3=Caio Cesar |date=2014-07-01 |title=Host selection, host-use pattern and competition in Dissodactylus crinitichelis and Clypeasterophilus stebbingi (Brachyura: Pinnotheridae) |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-014-0292-0 |journal=Symbiosis |language=en |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=99–110 |doi=10.1007/s13199-014-0292-0 |s2cid=256075356 |issn=1878-7665}}</ref> and another found no relationship.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Guilherme |first1=Pablo D. B. |last2=Brustolin |first2=Marco C. |last3=Bueno |first3=Maristela de L. |last4=Guilherme |first4=Pablo D. B. |last5=Brustolin |first5=Marco C. |last6=Bueno |first6=Maristela de L. |date=June 2015 |title=Distribution patterns of ectosymbiont crabs and their sand dollar hosts in a subtropical estuarine sandflat |url=http://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0034-77442015000600209&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en |journal=[[Revista de Biología Tropical]] |language=en |volume=63 |pages=209–220 |doi=10.15517/rbt.v63i2.23155 |doi-broken-date=2023-08-31 |issn=0034-7744}}</ref> The crabs are thought to consume the spines of the sand dollar, but additional research is necessary to determine if the ''Dissodactylus'' are truly parasitic.<ref name=":4" />