Feeding, Reproduction, and Development of the Subterranean Peracarid Shrimp Spelaeomysis bottazzii (Lepidomysidae) from a Brackish Well in Apulia (Southeastern italy)

Abstract

Abstract A population of the ‘eyeless’ hypogean shrimp Spelaeomysis bottazzii was studied over a three-year period in a shallow brackish-water well about 1 km from the Mediterranean coast. Mature males and immature females were numerous year round, whereas breeding females and juveniles were rare. The main stages of young in the brood pouch were embryos, nauplioids, and postnauplioids; all were unpigmented, unlike the postnauplioids in a congeneric species. In this well, the free-living stages fed mainly on autotrophic micro-organisms. The accumulation of fat reserves was judged from the amount of subcuticular fat bodies and from body colour. Fat status improved with increasing body size in both sexes; seasonal variations were not significant. Only ‘fat’ specimens produced eggs. Females incubating eggs were fatter than those with larvae. Field and laboratory findings suggest that fat accumulation near the photic zone is necessary for egg formation, whereas larval incubation is very long and mostly occurs ...