Morphological biomarkers of shore crabs (Grapsus albolineatus) living in the vicinity of a coastal landfill site

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA), intersexuality and shell disease were examined in Grapsus albolineatus investigating the effects of a seashore municipal landfill. There were no differences in the occurrences of shell disease in three crab populations from different locations in 1998-2000. Incidences of intersex in male crabs from two reference sites were about one-fold higher than those from the refuse dump in 2000, as consistently observed in 1999. On the other hand, composite FA indexes in crabs living in the landfill site were notably higher than those in the other two sites studied during 1998-1999, but not statistically significant in 2000.