Structural specialities, curiosities and record-breaking features of crustacean reproduction

Abstract

13 14 Crustaceans are a morphologically, physiologically and ecologically highly diverse animal 15 group and correspondingly diverse are their reproductive characteristics. They have evolved 16 structural specialities with respect to penis construction, sperm form, sperm storage, mode of 17 fertilization and brood care. Unique in the animal kingdom are safety lines that safeguard 18 hatching and first moulting of the offspring. Further curiosities are dwarf males in parasitic 19 and sessile species and the induction of feminization, castration and gigantism by parasites 20 and bacteria. Record-breaking features are relative penis length, clutch size, sperm size, 21 chromosome number, viability of resting eggs and fossil ages of penis, sperm and brooded 22 embryos. This article reviews and illustrates these structural reproductive peculiarities and 23 curiosities and discusses implications for basic and applied biological topics including sperm 24 competition, posthumous paternity, fitness enhancement of the young, reconstruction of 25 pristine ecosystems prior to man-made pollution, population change by infectious 26 feminization and sustainable male-based fishery.27 28

Post-mating spermatophore storage strategies in two species of crayfish: implications for broodstock management

“…This post-mating spermatophore storage strategy is very important for the blue crab because female mates only once during whole lifetime (Millikin and Williams, 1984;Hines et al, 2003). Long-term post-mating spermatophore storage strategy by female decapods has an important role in the population biology and sustainable fishery, because it may compensate negative effects of fishing to some extent by allowing posthumous paternity to the largest males that are caught by fishing activities (Gosselin et al, 2005;Sainte-Marie et al, 2008;Taylor et al, 2014;Ellis et al, 2015;Vogt, 2016).…”

“…Crayfish male produces immotile spermatozoa (Tudge, 2009;Niksirat et al, 2013a and2013b;Kouba et al, 2015;Yazicioglu et al, 2016) that are packed into spermatophore and transferred to the female body surface in Astacidae and Parastacidae, or into the annulus ventralis which is known as a spermatophore storage segment in Cambaridae (Hamr, 2002), during mating. Crayfish male gametes undergo post-mating morphological and molecular changes that are necessary for them to acquire fertilization ability (Niksirat et al, 2015a and2016;. Spermatozoa are released from spermatophore during fertilization and after fertilization eggs are attached to the body of female crayfish until hatching (Niksirat et al, 2015b).…”

Hermaphroditism and Gonochorism

“…Apart from primary and secondary males and different male morphotypes, "miniature males" are also present: complemental males in some androdieocius species and dwarf males in dioecious ones (Table 8.2), including barnacles (as mentioned above), epicaridean parasitic isopods, in the superfamilies Bopyroidea and Cryptoniscoidea Wägele 2001, Asakura 2009), copepods (Vogt 2016) and anomurans [genus Emerita, where neotenous males maintain physical contact with females in turbulent surf waters (Asakura 2009)]. These tiny males, attached to females, can have a similar role as hermaphrodites, and they can be seen as an adaptation to low densities in challenging environments and during parasitism (Ghiselin 1969).…”