Assessment of potential trade-off between maternal colouration and offspring quality in the ornamental “red cherry” shrimp Neocaridina davidi (Bouvier)

LÓPEZ GRECO, LAURA SUSANA; SGANGA, DANIELA ELIANA

AQUACULTURE RESEARCH

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2019 vol. 50 p. 1564 - 1573

1355-557X

Maternal colouration based on carotenoids has been proposed to negatively affect offspring quality in several taxa, since females might trade off their limited carotenoid resources between body colouration and eggs. This study investigated in the ornamental ?red cherry? shrimp (Neocaridina davidi) the relationship between maternal colouration and female reproductive performance, as well as offspring quality. Females selected displayed a broad array of body colour, from less coloured to intensely red coloured, and were paired with transparent males. The first two spawning events of each female were studied and compared. The number of newly hatched juveniles was associated to maternal weight, but not to maternal colouration. Offspring quality was measured in terms of survival at the end of the 90-day growth period, weight and length increment for 0-30 days and 30-60 days periods, and protein, lipid and glycogen contents in 30-day-old offspring. Yet, neither of these variables was associated to maternal colouration. These results indicate that there is no trade-off between maternal colouration and offspring quality in this species. Furthermore, no association was found between maternal and offspring colouration, evaluated at a similar age. However, body colouration in 180-days old females was significantly higher than in 90-days old females, indicating that female colouration is strongly influenced by age.