Influence of temperature on larval development of four co-occurring species of the brachyuran genusCancer

✍ Scribed by S. D. Sulkin; G. McKeen

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 813 KB
• Volume: 118
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0025-3162
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00347506

✦ Synopsis

Effects of temperature on zoeal development of Cancer productus, C. oregonensis, and C. gracilis collected from Puget Sound, Washington, USA, were determined and compared with published data on C. magister. Survival through zoeal development, mortality per individual zoeal instar, instar duration, and megalopa weight were determined for zoeae of each species raised in the laboratory at 10, 15, and 20 ~ In contrast to larvae of C. magister, the larvae of both C. productus and C. gracilis survived to the megalopa at 20 ~ Larvae of C. oregonensis, however, died by Zoeal Stage 3 at 20 ~ Individual instar mortality rates varied as a function of temperature among species, reflecting different patterns of thermal tolerance through ontogeny. Zoeal duration varied inversely with temperature, although differences between 10 and 15 ~ were far greater than those between 15 and 20 ~ in each species. Duration of individual zoeal instars varied as a function of temperature and species. Megalopa weight was significantly reduced at 20 ~ in C.

productus and C. gracilis, although no differences were measured between 10 and 15 ~ in any of the four species. Although literature reports indicate that reproductive output varies directly with adult size in these Cancer species, the larval traits measured here varied independent of body size.