Reproductive biology of the encapsulating, brooding gastropod Crepipatella dilatata Lamarck (Gastropoda, Calyptraeidae).

ABSTRACT: Among calyptraeid gastropods, males become females as they get older, and egg capsules containing developing embryos are maintained beneath the mother's shell until the encapsulated embryos hatch. Crepipatella dilatata is an interesting biological model considering that is an estuarine species and thus periodically exposed to elevated environment-physiological pressures. Presently, there is not much information about the reproductive biology and brooding parameters of this gastropod. This paper describes field and laboratory observations monitoring sex changes, brooding frequencies, sizes of brooding females, egg mass characteristics, and embryonic hatching conditions. Our findings indicate that C. dilatata is a direct-developing protandric hermaphrodite, changing from male to female when

SUBMITTER: Chaparro OR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6650077 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature