Question

The behavior of most animals is influenced by the periods of daylight and darkness in the environment. Fiddler crabs' courtship behaviors are instead synchronized by the 29 1/2-day cycle of the moon. What is the adaptive significance of using lunar cues?

Answer 1

Lunar cues

Step-by-step explanation:

By courting at the full and new moon, fiddler crabs link their reproduction to the times of the highest tides that disperse their larvae to safer, deeper waters

• Lunar cues provide a reliable way of coordinating reproductive activities
• Rhythmic reproductive cycles and lunar periodicity have been proposed to favor population persistence under conditions of female biased or low population size
• Reproductive synchrony has its won set of selective advantages including fertilization success and protection of adults and offspring against predators
• Breeding activities in various taxa coincide either with the brightest or the darkest nights of the lunar cycle