High energetic cost of oviposition in an edible marine gastropod

AVERBUJ, ANDRÉS; FERNÁNDEZ, DANIEL; PENCHASZADEH, PABLO E.; BIGATTI, GREGORIO

ANIMAL REPRODUCTION SCIENCE

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2017 vol. 14 p. 62 - 67

0378-4320

Theedible neogastropod Buccinanopscochlidium from Patagonia,Argentina, reproduces by means of egg capsules attached by the female to itsown shell. Gravid females lay an outstanding mean of 500,000 eggs that nursearound 800 embryos, which hatch as crawling juveniles (4 mm in shell length)after four months of intracapsular development. This reproductive investmentcould be expressed as the energy content (EC) estimated for the production of acomplete egg mass (33.94 ± 12.85 KJ), representing a conservative estimation ofthe total EC needed for an adult female to spawn, which is in average ~12% ofthe total EC in gravid females. This high maternal investment allows aconsiderable offspring size, which confers them high survival chances. A translocation of energy stored in the foot during the ovipositionseason is shown in a relative decrease of ~10% in the foot EC in respect of thetotal EC (61.8% in non-gravid females vs. 51.3% in gravid females). Gravidfemales showed significantly higher body wet mass/ shell length index andhigher total EC than non-gravid females (266.0 ± 66.4 KJ vs. 184.3 ± 69.6 KJ),suggesting that a body condition threshold is required for females to reproduce.These values represent an energetic surplus of over 40% of the total EC perindividual when compared to non-gravid females. Protecting gravid females fromfisheries would ensure the sustainability of the resource and must be takeninto account when establishing fisheries policies.