Reproducing on time when temperature varies: shifts in the timing of courtship by fiddler crabs.

ABSTRACT: Many species reproduce when conditions are most favorable for the survival of young. Numerous intertidal fish and invertebrates release eggs or larvae during semilunar, large amplitude, nocturnal tides when these early life stages are best able to escape predation by fish that feed near the shore during the day. Remarkably, some species, including the fiddler crabs Uca terpsichores and Uca deichmanni, maintain this timing throughout the year as temperature, and thus the rate of embryonic development, vary. The mechanisms that allow such precision in the timing of the production of young are poorly known. A preliminary study suggested that when temperature decreases, U. terpsichores mate earlier in the tidal amplitude cycle such that larvae are released at the appropriate time. We tested th

SUBMITTER: Kerr KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4022618 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature