Egg production inHeterocarpus reedifrom northern Chile, with a comparison between iced and living females (Decapoda: Caridea: Pandalidae)

Abstract

Abstract The deepwater pandalid shrimp Heterocarpus reedi supports one of the principal Chilean crustacean fisheries. Although the northern population accounts for approximately 45% of the total landings of Chile, the reproductive biology of H. reedi from northern Chile is largely unknown. The present study is based upon ovigerous H. reedi females obtained from commercial catches carried out between March and July 1995 in the area of Coquimbo, northern Chile. We compared data from iced specimens with those from living females. H. reedi produced up to 27237 eggs, the greatest number so far reported for a pandalid species, and substantially higher than values published for H. reedi from central Chile; living females, especially larger ones, carried more embryos than iced specimens. With regard to living females, egg loss increased as a power function with maternal size; egg mass volume declined by 16.9% during development. Embryos obtained from iced individuals were consistently larger than those from livin...