Date: 6 Nov 1997
From: Nuala McQuaid <N.McQuaid@Queens-Belfast.AC.UK>
To: CRUST-L <CRUST-L@VIMS.EDU>
QUESTION:
Do bigger lobsters produce bigger eggs? If someone knows of any literature relating to this I would be very grateful if they could pass it on to me. I am currently working with Nephrops norvegicus and there is a suggestion that this could be the case for Nephrops
eggs,
Nuala
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Date: 7 Nov 1997
From: Caleb.Gardner@dpif.tas.gov.au
To: CRUST-L@VIMS.EDU
COMMENTS 1:
An effect of female size on the size of individual eggs has been reported in American lobsters, snow crabs, and giant crabs (see references below).
It has been said that it's not size that counts, but how you lay them. At least with lobsters, Attard and Hudon found there was not only an increase in size, but also energy content -an indirect measure for establishing if bigger females actually produce better eggs.
Attard, J., and Hudon, C. (1987). Embryonic development and energetic investment in egg production in relation to size of female lobster (Homarus americanus). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 44, 1157-1164.
Begon, M., and Parker, G.A. (1986). Should egg size and clutch size
decrease with age ? Oikos 47, 293-302.
Sainte-Marie, B. (1993). Reproductive cycle and fecundity of primiparous and multiparous female snow crab, Chionoecetes opilio, in the Northwest Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 50, 2147-2156.
Gardner, C. Effect of female size on reproductive output of giant crabs. Marine and Freshwater Research (in press).
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COMMENTS 2:
Date: 10 Nov 1997
From: Steven Cadrin <Steven.Cadrin@noaa.gov>
To: IPM Return requested <CRUST-L@VIMS.EDU>
We found that egg diameter had a significantly positive relationship with maternal carapace length for American lobster.
see - Estrella, B.T. and S.X. Cadrin. 1995. Fecundity of the American lobster (Homarus americanus) in Massachusetts coastal waters. ICES Mar. Sci. Symp. 199: 61-72.