The role of movement by Crepidula norrisiarum Williamson in altering reproductive potential

Slipper limpets in the genus Crepidula have long been used as a model system in the study of protandrous hermaphroditism. The timing of the sex change in different social situations has been a major focus of previous work. Most efforts, however, have ignored the possibility that Crepidula species ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology 1998-07, Vol.225 (1), p.139-154
Main Authors: Hobday, Alistair J, Riser, Kristin L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Autoecology
Biological and medical sciences
Crepidula
Crepidula norrisiarum
Fitness
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Limpets
Marine
Movement
Norrisia
Protozoa. Invertebrata
Sex change
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Summary:Slipper limpets in the genus Crepidula have long been used as a model system in the study of protandrous hermaphroditism. The timing of the sex change in different social situations has been a major focus of previous work. Most efforts, however, have ignored the possibility that Crepidula species may also change their social situation through movement. In this study we evaluated the situations in which movements of the Norrisia norrisi-dwelling Crepidula norrisiarum Williamson occur, and the change in reproductive potential that may result from these movements. While both sexes and a range of sizes were able to reattach following separation from the host, in a series of movement experiments only male C. norrisiarum moved on and between host N. norrisi. A female C. norrisiarum alone on a N. norrisi was the most likely social situation to attract a male, while males were least likely to move when stacked on a female C. norrisiarum. A 74% portion of male C. norrisiarum movements between host N. norrisi resulted in an increase in reproductive potential, 10% saw no change, while the remaining 16% of movements resulted in a decrease. Movement was found to be a viable alternative to sex change as a means of increasing reproductive potential. The frequency of movements associated with particular Crepidula social situations should be an important consideration when evaluating sex change tradeoff decisions in these systems.
ISSN:0022-0981
1879-1697
DOI:10.1016/S0022-0981(97)00218-9