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Variable within-brood maternal provisioning in newly extruded embryos of Homarus gammarus

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Abstract

Offspring quality of decapod crustaceans has been widely studied, with special emphasis on the sources of variability determining embryonic and larval quality. Nevertheless, maternal provisioning has commonly been overlooked as a potential source of offspring within-brood variability. In the present study, the existence of variable maternal provisioning was assessed through the analysis of the fatty acid (FA) profile of newly extruded embryos from different regions of the brooding chamber of Homarus gammarus. Significant differences in the FA profile of embryos sampled from different pleopods and sides of the brooding chamber were recorded. Significant deviations of the overall mean of each surveyed female were also observed for essential FA, particularly 20:4n-6, 20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3. Lipid energy available to fuel embryogenesis also varied among embryos sampled from different regions of the brooding chamber. Results suggest variable female investment at oocyte production, which may be amplified during the incubation period of developing embryos by differential lipid catabolism. For the first time, maternal provisioning is evidenced as an additional source for within-brood variability in the FA profile of embryos.

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Acknowledgments

MC Leal and PN Pochelon acknowledge financial support by a PhD scholarship (SFRH/BD/63783/2009 and SFRH/BD/27615/2006, respectively) funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (QREN-POPH-Type 4.1—Advanced Training, subsidized by the European Social Fund and national funds MCTES, Portugal). We also thank Carla Santos for her help with biochemical analysis, Nancy Tenenbaum for revising the manuscript and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia & CESAM, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Miguel Costa Leal, Patricia N. Pochelon & Ricardo Calado

  2. Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, 10 Ocean Science Circle, 31411, Savannah, GA, USA

    Miguel Costa Leal

  3. Unidade de Bioenergia, Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia e Geologia, LNEG I.P., Estrada do Paço do Lumiar, 22, Edifício F R/C, 1649-038, Lisbon, Portugal

    Teresa Lopes da Silva & Alberto Reis

  4. Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Centro de Oceanografia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Nossa Senhora do Cabo, 939, 2750-374, Cascais, Portugal

    Rui Rosa

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  1. Miguel Costa Leal
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  2. Patricia N. Pochelon
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Correspondence to Miguel Costa Leal.

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Communicated by X. Irigoyen.

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Leal, M.C., Pochelon, P.N., da Silva, T.L. et al. Variable within-brood maternal provisioning in newly extruded embryos of Homarus gammarus . Mar Biol 160, 763–772 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-2131-2

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