Abstract
The female reproductive biology of a Chasmagnathus granulatus population inhabiting the area near the mouth of Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon, Argentina, was studied. An increase in air temperature during the spring is related to the start of the breeding period, when well defined egg-laying and hatching pulses were observed. Hatching is synchronic during the whole summer but the egg production was not, probably due to the gradual incorporation of young females to the reproductive population. Neither egg-laying nor larval release showed a clear relation to moon phase or tidal cycles, suggesting that reproduction is not rigidly programmed in this unpredictable habitat. Females moult at the beginning of autumn, after releasing the last larvae. However, a new cohort of ovocytes, which was in primary vitellogenesis before moulting, completed the secondary ovogenesis after moulting. Consequently, ovaries remained fully developed throughout the winter.
Highlights
The existence of a conflict between growth and reproduction is a common premise in studies of reproduction and life history patterns
The reproductive activities of a female crab (Crustacea: Brachyura) begin before the maturity moult; the initial growth and development of ovocytes is based on autochthonous material
C. granulatus females mated in the intermoult stage of the moult cycle, multiple ovipositions after one mating were observed in laboratory reared crabs (López-Greco and Rodríguez, 1999), and hatching pulses synchronised with noctural ebbs were detected in the Mar Chiquita population (Anger et al, 1994)
Summary
The existence of a conflict between growth and reproduction is a common premise in studies of reproduction and life history patterns. The reproductive activities of a female crab (Crustacea: Brachyura) begin before the maturity moult; the initial growth and development of ovocytes is based on autochthonous material (primary vitellogenesis). C. granulatus females mated in the intermoult stage of the moult cycle, multiple ovipositions after one mating were observed in laboratory reared crabs (López-Greco and Rodríguez, 1999), and hatching pulses synchronised with noctural ebbs were detected in the Mar Chiquita population (Anger et al., 1994). This synchrony allows Mar Chiquita larvae to be immediately exported to the sea. We propose the schedule of moulting and reproduction in this habitat
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