title: Reproductive traits of the symbiotic pea crab Austinotheresangelicus (Crustacea, Pinnotheridae) living in Saccostreapalmula (Bivalvia, Ostreidae), Pacific coast of Costa Rica.
abstract: Pea crabs of the family Pinnotheridae exhibit a symbiotic life style and live associated with a variety of different marine organisms, especially bivalves. Despite the fact that pea crabs can cause serious problems in bivalve aquaculture, the available information about the ecology of these crabs from Central America is extremely limited. Therefore, the present study aimed to describe different reproductive features of the pinnotherid crab Austinotheresangelicus associated with the oyster Saccostreapalmula in the Golfo de Nicoya, Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Monthly sampling was conducted from April to December 2012. Average carapace width (CW) of the 47 analyzed ovigerous females was 7.62 mm. The species produced on average 2677 ± 1754 recently -extruded embryos with an average volume of 0.020 ± 0.003 mm(3); embryo volume increased during embryogenesis by 21%, but did not vary significantly between developmental stages. Brood mass volume varied greatly (between 11.7 and 236.7 mm(3)), and increased significantly with female CW. Females invested on average 76.7% (minimum: 21.7%; maximum: 162.8%) of their body weight in brood production, which confirms a substantially higher energy allocation for embryo production in pinnotherid crabs compared to free-living decapods.
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, 11501-2060 San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Salas-Moya
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, 11501-2060 San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Sebastián
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mena
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, 11501-2060 San José, Costa Rica ; Unidad de Investigación Pesquera y Acuicultura (UNIP) del Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR), Universidad de Costa Rica, 11501-2060 San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Ingo S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Wehrtmann
keywords: Central America; fecundity; reproductive output; symbiosis