Egg Size as a Life History Character of Marine Invertebrates: Is It All It's Cracked Up to Be?

Moran, Amy L.; McAlister, Justin S.

doi:10.1086/bblv216n3p226

Cited by 181 publications

(150 citation statements)

References 170 publications

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“…Large eggs hatch more quickly, which lowers the uncertainty of hatching location and makes it more likely that offspring will end up near the parents (Duarte and Alcaraz 1989). By contrast, small eggs are adapted for dispersal (Vance 1973, Strathmann 1985, Moran and McAlister 2009). An examination of larval physiology along with the advective environment may determine if the minimum size of offspring reflects morphological constraints associated with dispersal.…”

Section: Other Drivers Of Offspring Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

Adult and offspring size in the ocean over 17 orders of magnitude follows two life history strategies

Neuheimer

Hartvig

Heuschele

et al. 2015

Ecology

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. (2015). Adult and offspring size in the ocean over 17 orders of magnitude follows two life history strategies. Ecology, 96(12), 3303-3311. DOI: 10.1890/14-2491.1 Ecology, 96(12), 2015Ecology, 96(12), , pp. 3303-3311 Ó 2015 Abstract. Explaining variability in offspring vs. adult size among groups is a necessary step to determine the evolutionary and environmental constraints shaping variability in life history strategies. This is of particular interest for life in the ocean where a diversity of offspring development strategies is observed along with variability in physical and biological forcing factors in space and time. We compiled adult and offspring size for 407 pelagic marine species covering more than 17 orders of magnitude in body mass including Cephalopoda, Cnidaria, Crustaceans, Ctenophora, Elasmobranchii, Mammalia, Sagittoidea, and Teleost. We find marine life following one of two distinct strategies, with offspring size being either proportional to adult size (e.g., Crustaceans, Elasmobranchii, and Mammalia) or invariant with adult size (e.g., Cephalopoda, Cnidaria, Sagittoidea, Teleosts, and possibly Ctenophora). We discuss where these two strategies occur and how these patterns (along with the relative size of the offspring) may be shaped by physical and biological constraints in the organism's environment. This adaptive environment along with the evolutionary history of the different groups shape observed life history strategies and possible group-specific responses to changing environmental conditions (e.g., production and distribution).

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Section: Other Drivers Of Offspring Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

Adult and offspring size in the ocean over 17 orders of magnitude follows two life history strategies

Neuheimer

Hartvig

Heuschele

et al. 2015

Ecology

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“…In marine invertebrates, larval development mode is often inferred from egg size (Moran and McAlister 2009). However, in Protobranchia, egg sizes can vary extensively within individual modes of development and even within closely related species (Gustafson and Reid 1986; Scheltema and Williams 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The reproductive ecology of the Antarctic bivalve Aequiyoldia eightsii (Protobranchia: Sareptidae) follows neither Antarctic nor taxonomic patterns

et al. 2018

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The accepted paradigm for reproduction in Antarctic marine species is one where oogenesis takes 18 months to 2 years, and a bimodal egg-size distribution where two cohorts of eggs are present in female gonads throughout the year. These slow gametogenic traits are driven by low temperature and/or the restriction of resource availability because of extreme seasonality in the marine environment. Here we present data on the reproductive ecology of the common Antarctic bivalve Aequiyoldia eightsii (Jay, 1839) (Protobranchia: Sarepidae) from monthly samples collected between January 2013 and May 2014 at Hangar Cove, Rothera Point on the West Antarctic Peninsula. These data show that A. eightsii is unusual because it does not follow the typical pattern expected for reproduction in Antarctic marine invertebrates, and differs also from closely related nuculanid protobranch bivalves with respect to gametogenic duration and reproductive periodicity. Continuous oogenesis, evidenced by the year-round occurrence of previtellogenic, vitellogenic, and ripe oocytes in female gonads, is supplemented by a seasonal increase in reproductive intensity and spawning in Austral winter (April-May), evidenced by the loss of mature spermatozoa and ripe oocytes from males and females, respectively. The simultaneous occurrence of these contrasting traits in individuals is attributed to a flexible feeding strategy (suspension and deposit feeding) in response to seasonal changes in food supply characteristic of the Antarctic marine environment. Asynchrony between individual females is also notable. We hypothesise that the variability may represent a trade-off between somatic and reproductive growth, and previously reported internal interannual cycles in shell growth.

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“…According to Péqueux (1995), salinity is the most important factor influencing reproduction and development of crustaceans inhabiting aquatic environments subject to fluctuations. Moran and McAlister (2009) stated that salinity-driven plasticity of egg size is likely to be due simply to osmotic water uptake by eggs in low-salinity waters. This conclusion is supported by the results reported by Giménez and Anger (2001): in the estuarine crab, Neohelice granulata, females held at a lower pre-hatching salinity (15 ppt) produced larger eggs than those from crabs held at 32 ppt.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive plasticity in Petrolisthes armatus (Anomura, Porcellanidae): a comparison between a Pacific and an Atlantic population

et al. 2011

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The porcellanid crab Petrolisthes armatus, with a known geographic distribution covering a wide range of latitudes, was selected to conduct a comparative study on egg production and reproductive output between two populations from Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Ovigerous females were collected between September and November 2005 in Punta Morales, Pacific coast of Costa Rica (n = 137) and from March 2005 to July 2006 in Araçá region, São Paulo, Brazil (n = 46). The mean size of females was statistically different between both populations with larger females from Brazil than Costa Rica (7.9 ± 1.31 and 6.6 ± 0.95 mm CW, respectively). Likewise, egg production was significantly different in both populations and started in Pacific Costa Rica at a smaller female size than in Brazil. Specimens from Pacific Costa Rica produced roughly three times more eggs than equally sized females from Brazil, while newly extruded embryos were larger in Brazil than in Costa Rica (0.045 and 0.039 mm 3 , respectively). Egg volume increased during embryogenesis by 112.8 and 164.5% in Costa Rican and Brazilian populations, respectively. The egg water content increased steadily in both populations; however, eggs produced in Brazil contained always more water than those from the same developmental stage in Costa Rica. Average reproductive output (based on dry weight) was substantially lower in Brazil (0.031) than in Costa Rica (0.065). Our results confirm an impressive intraspecific plasticity of reproductive features in an intertidal decapod. The observed phenotypical variability might be related to local environmental conditions as well as to the location of the studied population concerning its geographic range of distribution.

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Egg Size as a Life History Character of Marine Invertebrates: Is It All It's Cracked Up to Be?

Cited by 181 publications

References 170 publications

Adult and offspring size in the ocean over 17 orders of magnitude follows two life history strategies

Adult and offspring size in the ocean over 17 orders of magnitude follows two life history strategies

The reproductive ecology of the Antarctic bivalve Aequiyoldia eightsii (Protobranchia: Sareptidae) follows neither Antarctic nor taxonomic patterns

Reproductive plasticity in Petrolisthes armatus (Anomura, Porcellanidae): a comparison between a Pacific and an Atlantic population

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