Premium
Sexual traits plasticity of the potentially invasive limpet B ostrycapulus odites ( G astropoda: C alyptraeidae) within its natural distribution in S outh A merica
Author(s) -
Cledón Maximiliano,
Nuñez Jesús Darío,
Ocampo Emiliano Hernán,
Sigwart Julia D.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
marine ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.668
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1439-0485
pISSN - 0173-9565
DOI - 10.1111/maec.12329
Subject(s) - biology , limpet , fecundity , intertidal zone , ecology , range (aeronautics) , population , zoology , bay , geography , materials science , demography , sociology , composite material , archaeology
The slipper limpet Bostrycapulus odites has recently been reported as an introduced species on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Another species in the family Calyptraeidae, Crepidula fornicata , is a problematic invasive species in the Northeast Atlantic, which makes the closely related Bostrycapulus introduction a matter of concern. Information on the biology of B. odites in its natural environment can facilitate predictions on where the species could find favourable conditions for settlement and expansion. Size and sex were recorded for individuals in four populations over 2600 km of the Southwestern Atlantic shoreline, in Argentina and Brazil, covering the whole native latitudinal range of this widely distributed species. Animals were collected by hand in the intertidal or by SCUBA in subtidal locations; specimens were examined to determine shell length, sex, and the presence and number of brooded egg capsules in females. Mean shell length for the whole population did not differ significantly among populations. However, this species experiences sequential hermaphroditism (protandrism), and the size at sexual maturity (minimum male size) increased significantly with latitude. The fecundity of females at all sites increased with size, and the number of brooded egg capsules as well as the average size of capsules was larger in bigger individual females; however, mean fecundity varied among sites independent of mean female body size. This limpet species modifies its reproductive traits with local conditions, and sexual characters develop earlier in more temperate localities.