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Reproductive biology of Orchestia gammarellus (Crustacea: Amphipoda) living in a sewage treatment works

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

M. B. Jones  and
G. D. Wigham
M. B. Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
G. D. Wigham
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
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Extract

A population of the supralittoral Orchestia gammarellus (Pallas) (Amphipoda: Talitridae), living in a percolating filter of a sewage treatment works has been studied over 12 months. The population showed a seasonal pattern of occurrence, few animals being collected during the winter. The sex ratio was biased significantly to females except during the breeding season when it did not deviate significantly from 1:1. Ovigerous females, never collected in high numbers (1–14 per month), were found from April to August, with peak occurrence in May/June. Juveniles were present throughout the year, but peak recruitment occurred in summer, following the period of reproduction by females. The smallest ovigerous female had a body length of 12.6 mm and the largest measured 20.0 mm. Egg numbers (5–31 per brood) increased with increasing female size and egg volume more than doubled during embryonic development. These findings are discussed in relation to the possible methods of colonization of this unique habitat and the influence of sewage on crustacean life-history traits.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 73 , Issue 2 , May 1993 , pp. 405 - 416
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1993

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