Functional morphology of the seminal receptacles of the crab Metacarcinus edwardsii.

PARDO LM; RIVEROS MP; FUENTES JP; LOPEZ GRECO LS

INVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2013 vol. 132 p. 383 - 396

1077-8306

Abstract. One of the most remarkable features of the reproductive systems of eubrachyurancrabs is the presence of specialized organs for sperm storage, the seminal receptacles.Descriptions of seminal receptacle morphology, sperm storage time, sperm retention acrossmolts, and the capacity to store multiple ejaculates from different males can help in understandingcrab mating strategies as well as in preventing negative effects of male-biased fisheriesof heavily harvested species. Metacarcinus edwardsii is the most harvested crab inChile, but its reproductive biology is largely unstudied. In this study, the morphology of theseminal receptacles of M. edwardsii is characterized from the macroscopic to the microscopiclevel, during key points in the reproductive cycle. The receptacles of experimentallymated and wild-caught females were included in this analysis. Metacarcinus edwardsii hasventral-type seminal receptacles that are able to retain sperm after molting, and even afterextrusion of the eggs. Stratification of multiple ejaculates is clearly observed. In general, thepattern of sperm storage indicates that populations of this species, like those of other cancridcrabs, could have high resilience to the negative effects of the selective harvest of males,principally because females have a great sperm storage capacity.Additional key words: Cancridae, ejaculate stratification, reproduction, sperm