The Life Histories of the Offshore Oedicerotids Westwoodilla Caecula and Monoculodes Packardi (Crustacea: Amphipoda) From Loch Fyne, Scotland

Abstract

Results are presented of a comparative study on seasonal variations in population density, population structure and reproductive bionomics of two species of offshore benthic oedicerotid amphipod, Westwoodilla caecula (from 35 m depth) and Monoculodes packardi (from 190 m) in Loch Fyne (Scotland). Observations on live coloration and behaviour of these species in laboratory aquaria are also included. Male W. caecula were, on average, smaller than females. In M. packardi (atypically among Oedicerotidae) the reverse was true. Population densities of both species, calculated from sledge net tows (1-mm mesh), fluctuated erratically over one year (1992). Ovigerous W, caecula were recorded virtually year-round, but were commonest from midsummer to early autumn. Ovigerous M. packardi were noted in spring and early autumn. Monoculodes packardi had a semi-annual life cycle, but the pattern for W. caecula was less clear. The two generations of M. packardi grew at broadly similar rates, presumably associated with the damped seasonal fluctuations in physical environmental factors at 190 m. Female W. caecula possibly moult eight or nine times, and may produce three successive broods in a lifetime (M. packardi may only produce two). A positive correlation was found between fecundity (stage I eggs) and body length in W. caecula but, although a similar trend was apparent in the data for M. packardi, relevant data were too few for significance to be achieved. Ovoid eggs increased in volume by ×2 from stage I-IV in W. caecula, or ×1·5 from stage I–III in M. packardi. Brood sizes were much smaller in W. caecula than in M. packardi, although apparent brood mortality was higher in the latter. There was no significant relationship between the proportion of ovigerous females in the populations of either species and seasonal variation in physical environmental factors considered (temperature, salinity, daylength).