Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T03:53:47.924Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Moulting and mating in Lepeophtheirus pectoralis (Copepoda: Caligidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Morten Anstensrud
Morten Anstensrud
Affiliation:
Section of Marine Zoology and Chemistry, Biological Institute, University of Oslo, PO Box 1064, Blindern, N-0316 Oslo 3, Norway
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Prior to moulting, the preadult Lepeophtheirus pectoralis produces a temporary frontal filament which attaches the animal to the surface of the host during ecdysis. This filament is extruded from a frontal organ previously thought to have a chemoreceptory function. During ecdysis the exuvium splits at the anterior margin and is shed posteriorly by contractions of the body. After hardening of the exoskeleton the copepod detaches itself from the frontal filament and is free-living on the host during intermoult. Males in precopula position hold on to the dorsal side of the female, with the second antennae grasping the anterior end of the female's genital complex. During the ecdysis of the female, most males release their hold on the female, and are usually found close to her on the host. Copulation occurs between an adult male and an adult female with a hardened exoskeleton. In the copula position the male holds on to the female's genital complex with the second antennae, but now on the ventral side of the female. Two spermatophores are extruded and then transferred simultaneously to the female with the aid of the second pair of swimming legs. Tubes originating from the spermatophores connect them to the orifices of the receptaculum seminis. These tubes seem to grow out of the spermatophores after expulsion. After copulation, the male retains a precopula position before releasing the female. No agonistic behaviour has been observed between a precopulating/copulating male and additional males. However, during the ecdysis of the female, a new male may take over the female, but mating does not seem to be assortative for size in Lepeophtheirus pectoralis.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 70 , Issue 2 , May 1990 , pp. 269 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1990

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

Adams, J. & Greenwood, P.J., 1987. Loading constraints, sexual selection and assortative mating in peracarid Crustacea. Journal of Zoology, 211, 35–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adams, J., Watt, P.J., Naylor, C.J. & Greenwood, P.J., 1989. Loading constraints, body size and mating preference in Gammarus species. Hydrobiologia, 183, 157–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anstensrud, M., 1989 a. Experimental studies of the reproductive behaviour of the parasitic copepod Lernaeocera branchialis (L.) (Pennellidae). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 69, 465–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anstensrud, M., 1989 b. A vital stain for studies of behaviour and ecology of the parasitic copepod Lernaeocera branchialis (L.) (Pennellidae). Marine Ecology – Progress Series, 53, 47–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boxshall, G.A., 1974 a. The developmental stages of Lepeophtheirus pectoralis (Müller, 1776) (Cope-poda: Caligidae). Journal of Natural History, 8, 681–700.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boxshall, G.A., 1974 b. Lepeophtheirus pectoralis (O.F. Müller, 1776); a description, a review and some comparisons with the genus Caligus Müller, 1785. Journal of Natural History, 8, 445–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boxshall, G.A., 1976. The host specificity of Lepeophtheirus pectoralis (Müller, 1776) (Copepoda: Caligidae). Journal of Fish Biology, 8, 225–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goulliart, M., 1937. Recherches sur les Copépodes parasites (biologie, spermatogénèse et ovogénèse). Travaux de la Station Zoologique de Wimereux, 12 (mémoire no. 4), 309–457.Google Scholar
Izawa, K., 1969. Life history of Caligus spinosus Yamaguti, 1939, obtained from cultured yellow tail, Seriola quinqueradiata T. & S. (Crustacea: Caligoida). Report of the Faculty of Fisheries, Prefectural University of Mie, 6, 127–157.Google Scholar
Kabata, Z., 1981. Copepoda (Crustacea) parasitic on fishes: problems and perspectives. Advances in Parasitology, 19, 1–17.Google Scholar
Kabata, Z. & Cousens, B., 1973. Life cycle of Salmincola californiensis (Dana, 1852) (Copepoda: Lernaeopodidae). Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 30, 881–903.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, A.G., 1963. Life history of the caligid copepod Lepeophtheirus dissimulatus Wilson, 1905 (Crustacea: Caligoida). Pacific Science, 17, 195–242.Google Scholar
Oldewage, W.H. & Van As, J.G., 1989. On the sensory (?) structure between the frontal plates of Caligus O.F. Müller, 1785 (Copepoda, Caligidae). Crustaceana, 57, 72–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ridley, M. & Thompson, D.J., 1979. Size and mating in Asellus aquaticus (Crustacea: Isopoda). Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 51, 380–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar