The timing of energy allocation to reproduction in an important group of marine consumers

Abstract

Organisms may energetically finance reproductive effort using energy stored prior to the reproductive period (termed capital breeders) or using energy acquired during the reproductive period (termed income breeders). The specific strategy used has implications for population dynamics as well as for the response to environmental variation. Crabs and other crustaceans have generally been assumed to be capital breeders. Here I demonstrate an experimental procedure used to determine whether crabs are capable of using an income breeding strategy. I then examine data from several published studies from a range of crab species across a broad phylogenetic spectrum that conducted similar experiments to look for evidence of income breeding strategy. I show that income breeding does occur in crabs, but that it appears to be taxon-specific. In particular, I show that income breeding occurs in two species from the family Portunidae, but fail to find evidence for income breeding in other taxa examined. This finding has a range of implications for this ecologically and economically important group of consumers, including implications for their response to human-induced environmental change, their response to fishing pressure, and best practices for aquaculture. The implications of breeding strategy in crabs likely depends on phylogeny (morphology) and ecology, both of which influence the space available for energy storage inside the carapace.

Food and feeding habits of the blue crab,Callinectes sapidus (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae) with special reference to the gastric mill structure

“…The high percentage of stomach fullness was recorded during spring and summer, therefore, these results are in consistent with highest spawningof this species during spring and summer seasons. Similarly,the results obtained by Griffen (2018) provided clear evidence that some brachyuran crabs, Callinectes maenas and C. sapidus from U.S.A, use an income breeding strategy. The present data showed asimilarity with those obtained from the analysis of the natural diets of Callinectes ornatus in Ubatuba Bay, São Paulo, Brazil (Mantelatto and Christofoletti, 2001).…”

“…The energetics of individual organisms play an important role in ecological processes, determining where organisms can survive, the allocation of time to different activities, the rate at which organisms growand the timing of reproductive performance (Mendo et al, 2016). Some store energy used in reproduction prior to the start of the reproductive process, termed capital breeders, while others finance reproduction using energy gained throughout the reproductive process, termed income breeders (Griffen, 2018).…”

A multidisciplinary experimental study on the effects of breeders diet on newborn seahorses (Hippocampus guttulatus)

“…On this regard, it is very important to ascertain the origin (capital, income or mixed capital-income reproduction strategy) of the energy and nutrients necessary for reproduction (Williams et al, 2017), and to evaluate whether and when egg/fry composition can be affected by the type of diet provided. Hence, the identi cation of both diet quality and effective feeding periods (the time period needed to change the biochemical composition of eggs/fry) for optimum broodstock performance is of pivotal importance in enhancing newborn quality (Fernández-Palacios et al, 2011;Griffen, 2018). The present study and the pattern of isotopic changes discussed elsewhere (Planas et al, 2020) suggest that the reproduction type followed by H. guttulatus corresponds to a mixed capital-income strategy.…”

“…The present study and the pattern of isotopic changes discussed elsewhere (Planas et al, 2020) suggest that the reproduction type followed by H. guttulatus corresponds to a mixed capital-income strategy. This strategy usually implies a progressive drop in newborn quality in successive batches (McBride et al, 2016, Griffen, 2018. In order to properly assess the breeding strategy followed by H. guttulatus, the effects of experimental diets must be analyzed over the entire breeding period.…”

Reproductive and energetic costs of injury in the mangrove tree crab

“…Long-term energy for growth and reproduction in crustaceans is generally stored as lipids in the hepatopancreas, a digestive organ (Vonk 1960, Adiyodi 1969. The timing of the use of these lipid stores relative to egg production seems to differ by species (Griffen 2018), but regardless of this, lipids are eventually transferred to the ovary where they are deposited into the eggs during the process of vitellogenesis (Wolin et al 1973). Growth in this group of species is incremental, occurring with periodic molts (summarized in Warner 1977).…”