en Biology & physiology Biology & physiology پژوهشي Orginal research papers <p style="text-align: justify;">Current&nbsp; study&nbsp; was&nbsp; carried&nbsp; out&nbsp; between&nbsp; May&nbsp; 2014&nbsp; and&nbsp; May&nbsp; 2015&nbsp; on&nbsp; İztuzu&nbsp; Beach&nbsp; (Mugla,&nbsp; Turkey).&nbsp; Carapace&nbsp; width,&nbsp; the&nbsp; depth&nbsp; they&nbsp; were&nbsp; caught&nbsp; in&nbsp; their&nbsp; burrows&nbsp; and&nbsp; distance&nbsp; of&nbsp; their&nbsp; burrows&nbsp; from&nbsp; the&nbsp; sea&nbsp; parameters&nbsp; of&nbsp; 244&nbsp; <em>Ocypode&nbsp; cursor</em>&nbsp; individuals&nbsp; were&nbsp; recorded.&nbsp; A&nbsp; hypothesis&nbsp; derived&nbsp; from&nbsp; the&nbsp; observations&nbsp; during&nbsp; the&nbsp; fieldworks&nbsp; was&nbsp; tested&nbsp; statistically&nbsp; based&nbsp; on&nbsp; the&nbsp; data.&nbsp; According&nbsp; to&nbsp; the&nbsp; hypothesis&nbsp; of&nbsp; study,&nbsp; caught&nbsp; crabs&nbsp; with&nbsp; larger&nbsp; carapace&nbsp; widths&nbsp; (>&nbsp; 20&nbsp; mm)&nbsp; intent&nbsp; to&nbsp; escape&nbsp; from&nbsp; their&nbsp; burrows&nbsp; while&nbsp; they&nbsp; are&nbsp; still&nbsp; close&nbsp; to&nbsp; the&nbsp; sand&nbsp; surface&nbsp; during&nbsp; the&nbsp; digging&nbsp; activity of researcher.&nbsp; But&nbsp; smaller ghost&nbsp; crabs&nbsp; (<&nbsp; 20&nbsp; mm)&nbsp; shows&nbsp; tendency&nbsp; to&nbsp; hide&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; deeper&nbsp; portions&nbsp; of&nbsp; their&nbsp; burrows.&nbsp; Statistical&nbsp; analysis&nbsp; showed&nbsp; that&nbsp; there&nbsp; is&nbsp; a&nbsp; negative&nbsp; correlation&nbsp; between&nbsp; caught&nbsp; depth&nbsp; and&nbsp; carapace&nbsp; width,&nbsp; and&nbsp; gender&nbsp; factor&nbsp; has&nbsp; an&nbsp; important&nbsp; role&nbsp; in&nbsp; this&nbsp; hypothesis&nbsp; (r&nbsp; =&nbsp; -0.69&nbsp; for &nbsp;females&nbsp; and&nbsp; r&nbsp; =&nbsp; -0.70&nbsp; for&nbsp; males;&nbsp; p&nbsp; <&nbsp; 0.05).&nbsp; It&nbsp; was&nbsp; found&nbsp; that&nbsp; distance&nbsp; of&nbsp; burrows&nbsp; from&nbsp; the&nbsp; sea&nbsp; had&nbsp; no&nbsp; effect&nbsp; on&nbsp; the&nbsp; behavior&nbsp; model.&nbsp; Caught&nbsp; depth&nbsp; parameter&nbsp; was&nbsp; collected&nbsp; first&nbsp; time&nbsp; by&nbsp; this&nbsp; study&nbsp; for&nbsp; the&nbsp; ocypodid&nbsp; crabs.</p> İztuzu Beach, Ocypode cursor, Carapace width, Caught depth, Behavior model. 518 524 http://jifro.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2304-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Ö. Yılmaz ozgenyilmaz@hitit.edu.tr 100319475328460032532 100319475328460032532 Yes Hitit University, Alaca Avni Çelik Vocational School, Veterinary Department, Turkey M. Barlas 100319475328460032533 100319475328460032533 No Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Faculty of Science, Biology Department, Turkey