Temporal changes in egg number and size during a single breeding season in the hermit crab Pagurus minutus

Abstract

The pattern of egg production is important for understanding the reproductive biology in various animals. In species that can spawn multiple clutches during a single reproductive season, egg number and/or size in a population often show temporal changes even within a single season. However, there are only a few studies examining the temporal patterns of egg production in decapod crustaceans including hermit crabs. In this study, we investigated whether the clutch size and egg size change during a single breeding season in the hermit crab Pagurus minutus. We collected precopulatory guarding pairs from December 2014 to April 2015 and recorded the clutch and egg size of the newly spawned eggs. Our results demonstrated that both the clutch size and the egg size varied over this period; fewer and larger-sized eggs were laid in December, whereas eggs laid in February were greater in numbers and smaller in size. Given the temporal changes in environmental conditions in the study area, larvae from the two types of eggs experience different conditions. Former larvae are expected to hatch in February and experience a lower water temperature with relatively poor food conditions, whereas the latter are expected to hatch in April, when the feeding conditions are considered better with relatively warmer water temperatures. The pattern of egg production in this species is thought to vary with the environmental conditions at the time of larval hatching.