Nutritional vulnerability of the zoeal stages of the yellowline arrow crab Stenorhynchus seticornis (Brachyura: Majoidea)

BARROS-ALVES S; FERNANDES RODRÍGUEZ ALVES D; ANTUNES M; LOPEZ GRECO L.S; NEGREIROS FRANSOZO ML

MARINE AND FRESHWATER RESEARCH

CSIRO PUBLISHING

Lugar: Collingwood; Año: 2017

1323-1650

Knowledge of critical points in early larval stages is fundamental when evaluating the physiological state of the larvae in their natural environment. This study evaluated the nutritional vulnerability index (NVI) of the first (ZI) and second (ZII) zoeal stages of Stenorhynchus seticornis. Zoeae were assigned to two experiments: 1) point-of-no-return (PNR) consisting of treatments which increasing days of starvation and subsequent days of feeding; 2) point-of-reserve-saturation (PRS) consisting of treatments with increasing days of feeding and subsequent days of starvation (1?7 days for ZI; 1?8 days for ZII); and control treatments: continuous starvation (CS) and continuous feeding (CF). Mortality values were used to estimate the time when 50% of initially starved larvae (PNR50) lost the ability to molt to next stage, and when 50% of initially fed larvae (PRS50) were capable of molting to next stage. The duration of development of ZI and ZII under CF was 4.4±1.2 and 5.1±1.8 days, respectively. The larval mortality in CF was 30 and 52% for ZI and ZII, respectively. For ZI, PNR50 and PRS50 were 1.0±0.0 and 2.1±1.0 days, respectively. NVI was 2.2 for ZI, indicating that S. seticornis is dependent on exogenous food and is considered planktotrophic during the first larval stage.