Life history traits of the grass shrimp Palaemonetes antennarius (Decapoda, Palaemonidae) in the delta of the Neretva River, Croatia

Abstract

The life history of the freshwater shrimp Palaemonetes antennarius (H. Milne Edwards, 1837) was investigated from April 1993 to November 2002 at 13 sites in the delta of the Neretva River, Croatia. The sex ratio (males vs. females) was in favour of females throughout the study year ð AE SD ¼ 0:70 AE 0:12Þ. The breeding period lasts from April to August with a peak of 75% of the ovigerous female in June. The maximum number of eggs carried by ovigerous females was 73, and there was a positive significant linear correlation between fecundity (number of early embryonic stage eggs per female) and female body size (carapace length) (R 2 ¼ 0:698, po0:01). The breeding period was longer in limnocrenes and lakes with oligohaline-limnic water than in other habitat types because the water is more rapidly warmed in spring and cooled more slowly in autumn in these habitats. Larvae were present from June to October, with a peak reaching 19.4% of the total population in June. The shrimps follow a synchronic univoltine life cycle with a short egg-laying period and a new summer generation. Their larvae, apparently having no ecological flexibility, did not appear in any environment with high oscillations of salinity.

Shrimps of an ancient Balkan lake: Bionomy and conservation

“…The shrimp P. antennarius is an euryhaline species, inhabiting freshwaters and estuarine habitats (Parry & Potts 1965;DallaVia 1983DallaVia , 1986Gottstein Matočec & Kerovec2002;Gottstein Matočec et al 2006;Anastasiadou et al 2009). Its well established population in the lake can possibly be attributed to a succession of events.…”

“…A. thyamisensis prefers habitats with rich aquatic vegetation and well oxygenated waters. It is a phytophilous species, as well as A. desmarestii (Fidalgo & Gerhardt 2002) and it seems to prefer macrophyterich waters which serve as a shelter and food resource (Gottstein Matočec & Kerovec 2002). Due to its specialized setose chelae that when open spread a filter-fan, these atyids can collect diatoms from the mud substrata and small organic particles from the aquatic vegetation (Schram 1986).…”

“…On the other hand, Palaemonids demonstrate agonistic interactions and predation via enlarged second chelae (De Grave et al 2008). Especially for certain species of the family, such as A. desmarestii, has been reported that demonstrates high adaptability in physicochemical fluctuations and in colonizing new habitats (Cottiglia 1983;Fidalgo 1985Fidalgo , 1989Van den Brink and Van der Velde 1986;Gottstein Matočec & Kerovec 2002;Gottstein Matočec et al 2006 and references herein) and has been proposed as food resource in the aquaculture of freshwater fishes (Fidalgo & Gerhardt 2002). Although their possible economic value as food resource, and their high ecological importance, A. thyamisensis and P. antennarius are the only shrimps of Lake Pamvotis contributing to the enrichment of lake's biodiversity.…”

Biometric analysis of lacustrine and riverine populations of Palemonetes antennarius (H. Milne-Edwards, 1837) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Palaemonidae) from north-western Greece

“…In the AtlantoMediterranean zoogeographical area, the genus Palaemonetes Heller, 1869 is represented by six species: the estuarine Atlanto-European Palaemonetes varians (Leach, 1814) (Lagarde´re 1971;Noe¨l 1992 d'Acoz 1999), the freshwater endemic of eastern Spain Palaemonetes zariquieyi (Sollaud 1939;Zariquiey Alvarez 1968), the freshwater Tunisian Palaemonetes mesogenitor (Sollaud, 1912) (Sollaud 1939;Azzouna 1994), the freshwater Syrian Palaemonetes mesopotamicus Pesta, 1913 (Pesta 1913;Sollaud 1939), the freshwater Turkish Palaemonetes turcorum Holthuis, 1961(Holthuis 1961 and finally the Mediterranean endemic Palaemonetes antennarius (H. Milne-Edwards, 1837) (Holthuis 1961;Froglia 1978;Koc¸atas -1981;Cottiglia 1983;Noe¨l 1992;Gottstein Matocˇec and Kerovec 2002;Gottstein Matocˇec et al 2006). In Greece, P. antennarius has been reported from Ionian Islands (Korfu and Zakynthos;Holthuis 1961), Aegean Islands (Crete, Kos and Rhodes;Santucci 1928;Holthuis 1961;Lewinsohn 1976;Anastasiadou et al 2002), and western Greece (Udekem d'Acoz 1999; Anastasiadou et al 2002Anastasiadou et al , 2005.…”

“…P. antennarius is a euryhaline (Parry and Potts 1965;Dalla Via 1983, 1986Gottstein Matocˇec and Kerovec 2002;Gottstein Matocˇec et al 2006), benthic opportunistic omnivore decapod species (Gottstein Matocˇec et al 2006), with quick response metabolic rhythm and osmoregulation (Dalla Via 1983, 1986.…”