Male reproductive strategies in two species of spider crabs, Leurocyclus tuberculosus and Libinia spinosa
Section snippets
INTRODUCTION
Reproductive strategies incorporate a multitude of mechanisms that have evolved to promote the reproductive success of individuals (Weir and Rowlands, 1973; Andersson, 1994). Evolutionary perspectives tend to emphasize the advantages of male-male competition and female choice as mediators of differential reproduction (Andersson, 1994; Simmons, 2005). Male sexual competition can be explained through agonistic behavior at the organismal level and/or the gamete level through sperm competition,
Specimen collection
Leurocyclus tuberculosus (Fig. 1A) and Libinia spinosa (Fig. 1B) were collected in Villarino, San José gulf (42º40’ S, 64º16′ W), Argentina, with baited collapsible traps (diameter: 260 mm; length: 500 mm; mesh size 10 mm) from 5 to 55 m deep. Crabs were transported to the marine experimental aquarium of the CCT CONICET-CENPAT, Chubut, Argentina in dry conditions. Mature individuals of Leurocyclus tuberculosus (male carapace width CW > 60 mm (n° the individuals, N = 56), and female CW > 50 mm
Leurocyclus tuberculosus
In all the experimental trials, precopulatory guarding started when the male rose up onto the tips of the dactylii, and approached and tightly grasped the female (Fig. 4A). The male held the female with the chelipeds, grasping the coxae of the 1 st pairs of walking legs (Fig. 4B). The male strongly held the female, rostrum to rostrum, and as he moved he lifted and carried his mate (Fig. 4C). The female became submissive, with pereiopods relaxed (Fig. 4B, C) until mated. In the mating embrace,
DISCUSSION
The present study has established several fundamental points concerning male spider crabs’ reproductive strategies under different social contexts. The experiments performed in function of density of individuals or the presence of males with different sizes, showed that the mating behavior and the duration of the mate guarding, differ between species and among different social contexts.
The experiment with one male and one female (E1) allowed for the observation and description of the
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (PICT 2016-2351) and Programa Iberoamericano de Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo (CYTED 2018-P418RT0146-RIESCOS). Special thanks are due to the Nautical Service at CENPAT–CONICET for their collaboration in sampling activities, to the anonymous reviewers for their comments to the manuscript and to Amir Dyzenchauz (IBBEA, CONICET–UBA, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Buenos Aires,
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