Giant egg capsules and hatchlings in a deep-sea moon snail (Naticidae) from a Southwestern Atlantic Canyon

PENCHASZADEH , P. E.; PASTORINO, G.; MARTINEZ, M. I.; ATENCIO, M.

MARINE BIOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2016 vol. 163 p. 1 - 8

0025-3162

The globose moon snail Bulbus carcellesiDell, 1990 (Naticidae), and its egg masses were collectedfrom the Mar del Plata Submarine Canyon at depths of201?2082 m) in August 2012 and May 2013. Embryos ofthis species undergo encapsulated development, and theegg capsules are the largest ever recorded for this family,8.8?14.1 mm in diameter. The largest naticid egg capsulepreviously recorded was only 3 mm. Each egg capsulecontains a single, 200-μm diameter egg and a considerableamount of white material (supplementary food),which allows the embryo to grow to an enormous size (upto 6.0 mm in shell diameter) before hatching as a crawlingjuvenile. The volume of this juvenile shell is 45 timesthe volume of previously reported naticid hatchlings. Thisgreat size and the number of whorls in the hatchling shellsuggest a slow rate of development, akin to many otherdeep-sea invertebrates.