Egg production in betaeus emarginatus (h. milne edwards, 1837) (decapoda: Alpheidae): Fecundily, reproductive output and chemical composition of eggs

Marco A. Lardies, Ingo S. Wehrtmann, Ingo S. Wehrtmann

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

52 Scopus citations

Abstract

The major variables concerning clutch size, reproductive output and chemical composition of developing eggs were analyzed in the snapping shrimp Betaeus emarginatus from central-southern Chile. Betaeus emarginatus produced numerous (x=285) and relatively large eggs (x =0.209 mm3, recently-produced embryos), which more than double (116.2%) in volume during embryogenesis. Egg loss was fairly low (11.6%). Water constituted the predominant component of the eggs and increased gradually from 56.5% to 76.1%. Brood masses comprised an average of 8.5% of the female body dry weight, and the reproductive output (RO) was 0.09 (based on dry weight). Due to the apparent lack of information regarding the reproductive biology of snapping shrimps from temperate waters, we compare our data with those of other Alpheidae from tropical and subtropical zones. Our results corroborate the tendency of decreasing RO with increasing latitude.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)165-174
Number of pages10
JournalOphelia
Volume46
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 May 1997

Keywords

  • Brood mortality
  • Chile
  • Embryogenesis
  • Intertidal rockpools
  • Reproductive investment
  • Snapping shrimp

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