Temperature effects on the early ontogenetic stages of the intertidal stone crab Xantho poressa (Olivi, 1792)

Abstract

Temperature is a well-known environmental factor that affects the survival rate and development times of larvae in many brachyuran species. Intertidal species, such as the stone crab Xantho poressa are subject to aquatic and aerial temperature conditions, which make them suitable model species to analyse the effects of climate change. In this study, we analyse the effects of temperature on the duration of embryonic and larval development, as well as larval survival, of X. poressa under laboratory conditions. For brood incubation times, 18 ovigerous females were maintained at three different constant temperatures (17, 21 and 25 °C) in seawater (salinity of 35) until hatching. The larvae from other three ovigerous females were reared individually at the same temperature and in the same salinity conditions as for the brood incubation experiments. Embryonic incubation times decreased as temperature increased. Mean incubation times ranged between 23 and 9 days at 17 and 25 °C, respectively. Larvae development was completed at the three temperatures tested with the highest survival rate occurring at 25 °C. The duration of larval development also decreased with increasing temperature. The mean number of days from hatching to the megalopa stage ranged between 35 (17 °C) and 15 days (25 °C). An additional zoeal stage (ZV) was observed at the lowest temperature tested (17 °C).