Abstract
Male-biased fishery management can provoke depletion of seminal reserves, which is the primary cause of sperm limitation. Therefore, identifying factors which contribute to the vulnerability to depletion of seminal reserves is a priority. The present study aimed to determine the effect of temperature on the recovery rate of sperm and seminal reserves after their depletion in Lithodes santolla, an important fishery resource in southern Chile. Sperm and seminal reserves were not fully recovered within 30 days. Temperature significantly affected seminal recovery: after 30 days the recovery index increased to 40% and 21% at 9°C and 12°C, respectively. The twice as fast seminal recovery at 9°C may be explained by the zone of origin of the individuals in this study (northern distributional limit), and 12°C may be close to the threshold of temperature tolerance. Lithodes santolla populations subject to intense male-only fisheries may be vulnerable to depletion of seminal reserves and a climate change scenario could additionally aggravate the risk of seminal depletion in L. santolla in its northern distributional limit.
Highlights
Most crustacean fisheries are managed by a male-biased or exclusively male extraction strategy [1]
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of temperature on the recovery rate of sperm and seminal reserves after their depletion in L. santolla from its northern distributional limit
Temperature had a significant effect on the recovery rate of seminal reserves in L. santolla after 30 experimental days
Summary
Most crustacean fisheries are managed by a male-biased or exclusively male extraction strategy [1]. Harvesting large males can trigger changes in the mating dynamics of a population, thereby reducing overall reproductive success [2,3]. A reduced density of males in the population may affect the frequency of encounters of females with males and cause difficulties for females to find mates [5]. Owing to a lower availability of dominant males, available males potentially mate more frequently than in non-fished populations [6]. Males might deplete their sperm reserves faster than they are able to recover them, and transfer reduced sperm to females, an issue which has been termed sperm depletion [7,8,9,10,11]
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