Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T15:41:56.726Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The reproductive biology of Corophium volutator and C. arenarium (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

J. D. Fish  and
A. Mills
J. D. Fish
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
A. Mills
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The life-cycles of Corophium volutator (Pallas) and C. arenarium Crawford in the Dovey Estuary are based on two generations per year. Reproduction is well established by April and although the overwintering generation dies during the summer, reproduction continues until October as a result of the breeding of summer-generation animals. The mean brood size of C. volutator is greater than that of C. arenarium and both species show high levels of egg loss from the brood pouch. Hatching and moulting of the embryonic cuticle take place simultaneously and the initial rupture of the egg membranes is made by spines on the cuticle of the telson of the future free-living animal. These spines persist throughout post-embryonic life.

Adult females of both species show a semi-lunar breeding rhythmicity and, associated with this, adult males show a rhythmic pattern of crawling behaviour. As the tide ebbs during the rising spring tide period, adult males emerge from the sediment and crawl across the mud surface in search of burrows occupied by adult females. It is concluded that copulation takes place in the burrow and not in the water column.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 59 , Issue 2 , May 1979 , pp. 355 - 368
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Campbell, J. I. & Meadows, P. S., 1974. Gregarious behaviour in a benthic marine amphipod (Corophium volutator). Experientia, 30, 1396–1397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, G. I., 1937. A review of the amphipod genus Corophium, with notes on the British species. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 21, 589–630.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, C. C., 1968. Mechanisms of hatching in aquatic invertebrate eggs. Oceanography and Marine Biology, an Annual Review, 6, 325–376.Google Scholar
Fish, J. D., 1975. Development, hatching and brood size in Bathyporeia pilosa and B. pelagica (Crustacea: Amphipoda). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 55, 357–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodhart, C. B., 1941. The ecology of the Amphipoda in a small estuary in Hampshire. Journal of Animal Ecology, 10, 306–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamond, R., 1967. The Amphipoda of Norfolk. Cahiers de biologie marine, 8, 113–152.Google Scholar
Hart, T. J., 1930. Preliminary notes on the bionomics of the amphipod, Corophium volutator Pallas. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 16, 761–789.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, R. G., 1978. Life-histories and abundance of epizoites of the hydroid Nemertesia anten-nina (L.). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 58, 313–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingle, R. W., 1963. Corophium multisetosum Stock, a crustacean amphipod new to Great Britain, with notes on the distribution of C. volutator (Pallas) and C. arenarium Crawford. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 6, 449–459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Roux, M. L., 1933. Recherches sur la sexualitsé des gammariens. Croissance. Reproduction. Dslquo;eterminisme des caractères sexuels secondaires. Bulletin biologique de la France et de la Belgique, supplslquo;ement 16, 1–138.Google Scholar
Linke, O., 1939. Die Biota des Jadebusenwattes. Helgoländer wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen, 1, 201–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mclusky, D. S., 1968. Some effects of salinity on the distribution and abundance of Corophium volutator in the Ythan Estuary. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 48, 443–454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meadows, P. S. & Reid, A., 1966. The behaviour of Corophium volutator (Crustacea: Amphipoda). Journal of Zoology, 150, 387–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muus, B. J., 1967. The fauna of Danish estuaries and lagoons. Distribution and ecology of dominating species in the shallow reaches of the mesohaline zone. Meddelelser fra Danmarks Fiskeri-og Havundersegelser, 5, 316 pp.Google Scholar
Saxvat, B., 1967. La macrofaune carcinologique endogée des sslquo;ediments meubles intertidaux (Tanaidacés, Isopodes et Amphipodes), éthologie, bionomie et cycle biologique. Méhtoires du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, série A, Zoologie, 45, 275 pp.Google Scholar
Segerstråle, S. G., 1940. Studien über die Bodentierwelt in südfinnländischen Kurtengewässern. VI. Zur Biologie des Amphipoden Corophium volutator, nebst Angaben über die Entwicklung und Rückbildung der Oostegitenborsten bei dieser Art. Commentationes biologicae, 7 (16), 1–40.Google Scholar
Sheader, M., 1978. Distribution and reproductive biology of Corophium insidiosum (Amphipoda) on the north-east coast of England. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 58, 585–596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thamdrup, H. M., 1935. Beiträge zur Okologie der Wattenfauna auf experimenteller Grundlage. Meddelelser fra Kommissionen for Danmarks Fiskeri-og Havunder søgelser, serie Fiskeri, 10 (2), 125 pp.Google Scholar
Watkin, E. E., 1941. The yearly life cycle of the amphipod, Corophium volutator. Journal of Animal Ecology, 10, 77–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar