Egg capsules and veligers of the corallivorous muricid gastropod Drupella rugosa (Born, 1778)

Abstract

Population outbreaks of the corallivorous muricid gastropod Drupella can cause significant coral mortality but our current understanding of their early life history, recruitment mechanisms and behaviour is limited. In this study, we observed the deposition of D. rugosa (Born, 1778) egg capsules on bare skeletal surfaces of the scleractinian coral Pocillopora acuta Lamarck, 1816. Each egg capsule measured 2.43 by 2.39 mm and contained an average of 67 embryos. Intracapsular development lasted 15 days post-oviposition, after which free-swimming veliger larvae emerged from the capsule. The larval shells of these veligers with 1⅓ whorls averaged 328 by 245 μm in size. Compared to its congeners, D. rugosa veliger larvae were the largest at hatching. Detailed descriptions of D. rugosa egg capsules and early veligers are provided to supplement current knowledge on reproductive biology and early life history of the species. Such data will provide more insights into understanding and modelling the population dynamics of D. rugosa.