Comparative body measurements, fecundity, oxygen uptake, and ammonia excretion inCambarus robustus(Astacidae, Crustacea) from an acidic and a neutral site in northeastern Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Cambarus robustus (Astacidae, Crustacea) females from acidic, metal-contaminated Wavy Lake and circumneutral, uncontaminated, fast-flowing Pike Creek showed significant allometric differences (relationships between total body length and wet mass, total body length and chela length, and carapace length and carapace width), as well as differences in their fecundity (relationships between total body length and numbers of eggs per ovary and numbers of eggs per ovary and diameter of eggs). Whereas crayfish from Pike Creek showed linear relationships between total body length, wet mass, and chela length (= isometry), decapods from Wavy Lake showed isometry only between total body length and chela length. Females from Pike Creek produced significantly more but smaller ovarian eggs than did those from Wavy Lake. Oxygen consumption was significantly lower and ammonia excretion significantly higher in crayfish from Wavy Lake than in those from Pike Creek.