Use of the Sterile Male Technique to Investigate Sperm Competition, Storage, and Use in a Pill Box Crab, Halicarcinus Cookii (Brachyura: Hymenosomatidae)

We examined the female reproductive system of the yellowline arrow crab Stenorhynchus seticornis by means of histological and histochemical techniques. Mature specimens obtained in the field were kept in the laboratory for mating experiments. After 24 h, newly mated females were dissected, and their reproductive trait routinely processed for embedding in historesin. The specimens examined each possessed a pair of kidney‐shaped seminal receptacles (SR), and these we classified as ventral type, based on the location of the oviduct opening. The mesodermal dorsal region (DR) of SR consisted of a stratified epithelium with scaly cells, while the ectodermal ventral region (VR) was composed of a simple epithelium covered by a cuticle. The oviduct opened at the transition region (TR) between DR and VR and had no velum. The simple epithelium of TR had more folds on the face of the oviduct opening. The vagina exhibited the same features as the TR epithelium and was contiguous to VR, anchored by muscles. In the lumen, from one to three strata of sperm packets were observed, the dorsal one containing free sperm, and the most ventral stratum, spermatophores. An acidophilic glycoprotein layer enclosed the strata. Spermatophores in the ventral stratum were enclosed in a voluminous secretion, composed by acid polysaccharides most likely from the last male mated. The ventral‐type receptacle, stratified sperm packets, and polyandry, usually observed in females of Majoidea, suggest the occurrence of sperm competition in S. seticornis, favoring the sperm of the last male mated, as its sperm mass is located near the opening of the female oviduct.

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“…Other studies of sperm competition in crabs (Urbani et al. ; Van Den Brink & McLay ) also support these conclusions.…”

mentioning

confidence: 57%

“…Studies on the reproductive behavior of majoids indicate that in some species, such as Inachus dorsettensis ( Pennant 1777), Libinia emarginata Leach 1815, and Libinia spinosa H. Milne Edwards 1834, mating occurs between males and hard‐shelled females (González‐Gurriarán et al. ; Van Den Brink & McLay ; Sal Moyano et al. ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological analysis of the female reproductive system of Stenorhynchus seticornis (Brachyura: Inachoididae) and comparisons with other Majoidea

Antunes

Zara

Greco

et al. 2016

Invertebrate Biology

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“…When this connection is ventral, near the vagina, spermatozoa from the latest copulation are preferentially used. Conversely, when the connection is dorsal, spermatozoa from the earliest copulation are given priority (van den Brink and McLay ; McLay and López‐Greco ). This view is further supported by the absence of structures such as cilia in the seminal receptacle, conspicuous muscles in the lining of the seminal receptacle and flagella suggestive of sperm motility.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative morphology of the female genital ducts of seven eubrachyuran crabs (Saint Laurent, 1980)

et al. 2016

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de Souza, L.P., Ogawa, C.Y., Silva, J.R.F. and Camargo-Mathias M.I. 2016. Comparative morphology of the female genital ducts of seven eubrachyuran crabs (Saint Laurent, 1980). -Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 00: 000-000.Three brachyuran groups can be defined based on genital orifices' location: coxae -Podotremata, coxal (males) or sternal (females) -Heterotremata and sternal -Thoracotremata. Aiming to compare Heterotremata (three species) and Thoracotremata (four species), we provide a detailed morphological description of the genital ducts. To do so, 50 females were collected and dissected, and macroscopic and histological description of their reproductive system is presented. In all of the specimens, the system is bilaterally sy, consisting a pair of ovaries and of genital ducts. Also, genital ducts have four components: oviduct, seminal receptacle, vagina and gonopore. Ovaries may be connected to seminal receptacle through dorsal or ventral region. In the Heterotremata studied, both types are observed, while it is only ventral in Thoracotremata. Seminal receptacle has two regions in all species: ventral -simple columnar secretory epithelium, apical region covered with cuticle, and middorsal -epithelium could be columnar secretory or stratified. Vagina is concave in all analysed Thoracotremata and simple in Heterotremata. An operculum was observed in all the Thoracotremata. Observed morphological patterns are consistent throughout Thoracotremata, while varying in Heterotremata, that is the way ovary and receptacle are connected and the kind of epithelia that forms the receptacle.

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“…If cheliped size is not an adaptation primarily for restraining females, competition between males is a likely causal factor for the development of such weapons for purposes of fending off rival males (Andersson, 1994). In H. cookii, chelipeds are not used in courting displays, but they are used in agonistic encounters between males ( Van den Brink, 2006). Males with larger chelipeds have an advantage over those with smaller chelipeds, providing one selective force favouring large chelipeds in males.…”

Section: Relative Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The population of H. cookii at Kaikoura is unimodal dominated by crabs of CW 8 -10 mm and with no evidence of cohorts that reach a larger size during the summer (Van den Brink, 2006). During winter when growth is slow, crabs could moult to maturity when they are small, but in the warmer months they could grow larger and make the pubertal moult at a larger size.…”

Section: Mature and Immature Size Overlap In Hymenosomatidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative growth and size at sexual maturity inHalicarcinus cookii(Brachyura: Hymenosomatidae): why are some crabs precocious moulters?

McLay

Brink

2009

J. Mar. Biol. Ass.

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The small intertidal New Zealand crab, Halicarcinus cookii undergoes a terminal pubertal moult, but this moult takes place over a wide range of pre-moult sizes. Relative growth of the abdomen width in immature females is positively allometric, but negatively allometric in mature females. Male abdomen growth is negatively allometric. Growth of the cheliped propodus in males is positively allometric, but in females it is negatively allometric or isometric. Overlap in the size-range of mature and pre-pubertal immature female H. cookii is 72% and in other hymenosomatids it can be as high as 87%. This overlap is probably the result of crabs having a variable number of pre-pubertal instars, but seasonal change in water temperature, with crabs moulting to a smaller final size during colder months and to a larger size during the warmer months is also possible. The net reproductive rate (R o ) of early and delayed moulters is compared and for H. cookii R o e / R o d ¼ 1.0 so the size overlap is stable. Most hymenosomatids have determinate growth, but Hymenosoma orbiculare and Elamenopsis lineata continue to moult after maturity and have retained the ancestral link between moulting and mating.

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Use of the Sterile Male Technique to Investigate Sperm Competition, Storage, and Use in a Pill Box Crab, Halicarcinus Cookii (Brachyura: Hymenosomatidae)

Cited by 20 publications

References 22 publications

Morphological analysis of the female reproductive system of Stenorhynchus seticornis (Brachyura: Inachoididae) and comparisons with other Majoidea

Morphological analysis of the female reproductive system of Stenorhynchus seticornis (Brachyura: Inachoididae) and comparisons with other Majoidea

Comparative morphology of the female genital ducts of seven eubrachyuran crabs (Saint Laurent, 1980)

Relative growth and size at sexual maturity inHalicarcinus cookii(Brachyura: Hymenosomatidae): why are some crabs precocious moulters?

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