Abstract
Seagrass beds are diverse and productive components of coastal ecosystems. Amphipods often comprise a major component of their invertebrate fauna and may be among the most important secondary producers. The life history and production of the amphipod Gammaropsis japonicus were investigated monthly for 1 year on a seagrass bed (Zostera marina L.) in Gwangyang Bay, southern Korea. Population density of G. japonicus was closely correlated with seagrass standing crop (P < 0.05), suggesting that there is a biological interaction between these two groups. The life-history pattern was annual and iteroparous with two principal periods of juvenile recruitment during the year; in spring (May to July) and fall (November to December). The mean body length of adults including ovigerous females was larger in the spring breeding period than in the fall and overall sex ratio was female-biased. The brood size and egg volume were positively related to body length of ovigerous females. At any given female size, egg volume was significantly larger in the fall breeding than in the spring, whereas brood size in the spring breeding was significantly larger than that in the fall. The brood volume of females between the two breeding periods was much greater in the fall than in the spring, suggesting higher reproductive effort during the fall breeding period. Annual biomass of G. japonicus was 2.16 g DW m−2 yr−1 and was higher in the spring than in the fall breeding periods. The annual secondary production (14.59 g DW m−2 yr−1) was higher than those observed for other amphipods inhabiting seagrass beds. However, annual productivity to biomass (P/B) ratio, at 6.74, was lower than those recorded previously in both temperate and tropical seagrass beds because the number of generations decreases the P/B ratio. The combination of high abundance and production suggests an important role for G. japonicus in the seagrass beds ecosystem as a trophic link from primary producers to higher consumers.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ali, M. H. & S. D. Salman, 1987. Growth and production of the amphipod Parhyale basrensis (Talitridae) in the Shatt al-Arab region. Marine Ecology Progress Series 40: 231–238.
Bell, M. C. & J. D. Fish, 1996. Fecundity and seasonal changes in reproductive output of females of the gravel beach amphipod, Pectenogammarus planicrurus. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 76: 37–55.
Benke, A. C., 1979. A modification of the Hynes method for estimating secondary production with particular significance for multivoltine populations. Limnology and Oceanography 24: 168–171.
Borowsky, B., 1980. Reproductive behavior of three tube-building peracarid crustaceans: the amphipods Jassa falcata and Ampithoe valida and the tanaid Tanais cavolinii. Marine Biology 77: 257–263.
Cariou-Le Gall, V. & G. Blanchard, 1995. Monthly HPLC measurements of pigment concentration from an intertidal muddy sediment of Marennes-Olóron Bay, France. Marine Ecology Progress Series 121: 171–179.
Carrasco, F. D. & D. F. Arcos, 1984. Life history and production of a cold-temperate population of the sublittoral amphipod Ampelisca araucana. Marine Ecology Progress Series 14: 245–252.
Cederwall, H., 1977. Annual macrofauna production of a soft bottom in the northern Baltic proper. In Keegan, B. F. (ed.), Biology of Benthic Organisms. Pergamon, Oxford, United Kingdom: 155–164.
Coen, L. D., K. L. Heck Jr. & L. G. Abele, 1981. Experiments on competition and predation among shrimps of seagrass meadows. Ecology 62: 1484–1493.
Collie, J. S., 1985. Life history and production of three amphipod species on Georges Bank. Marine Ecology Progress Series 22: 229–238.
Crowder, L. B. & W. E. Cooper, 1982. Habitat structural complexity and the interaction between bluegills and their prey. Ecology 63: 1802–1813.
Cushman, R. M., H. H. Shugart, S. G. Hildegrand & J. W. Elwood, 1978. The effect of growth curve and sampling regime on instantaneous-growth, removal-summation, and Hynes/Hamilton estimates of aquatic insect production: a computer simulation. Limnology and Oceanography 23: 184–189.
Dauvin, J. C., 1988a. Biologie, dynamique, et production de populations de crustacés amphipodes de la Manche occidentale 3 Ampelisca typica (Bate). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 121: 1–22.
Dauvin, J. C., 1988b. Life cycle, dynamics and productivity of Crustacea-Amphipoda from the western English Channel 4 Ampelisca armoricana Bellan-Santini et Dauvin. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 123: 235–252.
Dauvin, J. C., 1988c. Biologie, dynamique, et production de populations de crustacés amphipodes de la Manche occidentale 2 Ampelisca brevicornis (Costa). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 119: 213–233.
Dauvin, J. C., 1989. Life cycle, dynamics and productivity of Crustacea-Amphipoda from the western English Channel 5 Ampelisca sarsi Chevreux. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 128: 31–56.
Donn, T. E. Jr. & R. A. Croker, 1986. Seasonal patterns of production in the sandy-beach amphipod Haustorius canadensis. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 22: 675–687.
Fish, J. D., 1975. Development, hatching and brood size in Bathyporeia pilosa and B. pelagica (Crustacea: Amphipoda). Journal of Marine Biological Association United Kingdom 55: 357–368.
Franz, D. R. & J. T. Tanacredi, 1992. Secondary production of the amphipod Ampelisca abdita Mills and its importance in the diet of juvenile winter flounder (Pleuronectes americanus) in Jamaica Bay, New York. Estuaries 15: 193–203.
Fredette, T. J. & R. J. Diaz, 1986. Life history of Gammarus mucronatus Say (Amphipoda: Gammaridae) in warm temperate estuarine habitats, York River, Virginia. Journal of Crustacean Biology 6: 57–78.
Fredette, T. J. & R. J. Diaz, 1990. Secondary production within a seagrass Bed (Zostera marina and Ruppia marina) in lower Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries 13: 431–440.
Hamilton, A. L., 1969. On estimating annual production. Limnology and Oceanography 14: 771–782.
Hastings, M. H., 1981. The life cycle and productivity of an intertidal population of the amphipod Ampelisca brevicornis. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 12: 665–677.
Highsmith, R. C. & K. O. Coyle, 1990. High productivity of northern Bering Sea benthic amphipods. Nature 344: 862–864.
Hynes, H. B., 1961. The invertebrate fauna of a Welsh mountain stream. Archiv fur Hydrobiologie 57: 344–388.
Jeong, S. J., O. H. Yu & H.-L. Suh, 2004. Seasonal variation and feeding habits of amphipods inhabiting Zostera marina beds in Gwangyang Bay, Korea. Journal of Korean Fisheries Society 37: 122–128.
Jeong, S. J., O. H. Yu & H.-L. Suh, 2006. Secondary production of Jassa slatteryi (Amphipoda, Ischyroceridae) on a seagrass bed (Zostera marina L) in southern Korea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 309: 205–211.
Jeong, S. J., O. H. Yu & H.-L. Suh, 2007. Life history and reproduction of Jassa slatteryi (Amphipoda, Ischyroceridae) on a seagrass bed (Zostera marina L) in southern Korea. Journal of Crustacean Biology 27: 65–70.
Kaim-Malka, R. A., 1969. Biologie et ecologie de quelques Ampelisca de la region de Marseilles. Tethys 1: 977–1022.
Kanneworf, E., 1965. Life cycle, food and growth of the amphipod Ampelisca macrocephala Liljeborg from the Oresund. Ophelia 2: 305–318.
Kemp, P. F., F. A. Cole & R. C. Swartz, 1985. Life history and productivity of the phoxocephalid amphipod Rhepoxynius abronius (Barnard). Journal of Crustacean Biology 5: 449–464.
Kim, C. B., 1991. A systematic study of marine gammaridean Amphipoda (Crustacea) from Korea. Ph.D. Thesis, Seoul National University: 442.
Klein, G., E. Rachor & S. A. Gerlach, 1975. Dynamics and productivity of two populations of the benthic tube-dwelling amphipod Ampelisca brevicornis (Costa) in Helgoland Bight. Ophelia 14: 139–159.
Kwak, S. N., 1997. Biotic communities and feeding ecology of fish in Zostera marina beds off Dae Island in Kwangyang Bay. Ph.D. Thesis, Pukyong National University: 411.
La France, K. & E. Ruber, 1985. The life cycle and productivity of the amphipod Gammarus mucronatus on a northern Massachusetts salt marsh. Limnology and Oceanography 30: 1067–1077.
Mills, E. L., 1967. The biology of an ampeliscid crustacean sibling species pair. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 24: 305–355.
Moller, P. & R. Rosenberg, 1982. Production and abundance of the amphipod Corophium volutator on the west coast Sweden. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research 16: 127–140.
Morino, H., 1978. Studies on the Talitridae (Amphipoda, Crustacea) in Japan. III. Life history and breeding activity of Orchestia platensis Krøyer. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory 24: 245–267.
Nagle, J. S., 1968. Distribution of the epibiota of macrobenthic plants. Contributions in Marine Science 13: 105–144.
Nelson, W. G., 1979. Experimental studies of selective predation on amphipods: consequences for amphipod distribution and abundance. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 38: 225–245.
NORI (National Oceanographic Research Institute, Korea), 2002. Tide Tables, Vol 510, NORI, Inchon, Korea.
Rajagopal, S., G. van der Velde, B. G. P. P. Paffen, F. W. B. van den Brink & A. Bij de Vaate, 1999. Life history and reproductive biology of the invasive amphipod Corophium curvispinum (Crustacea: Amphipoda) in the Lower Rhine. Archiv fur Hydrobiologie 144: 305–325.
Ricciardi, A. & E. Bourget, 1998. Weight-to-weight conversion factors for marine benthic macroinvertebrates. Marine Ecology Progress Series 163: 245–251.
Sainte-Marie, B., 1991. A review of the reproductive bionomics of aquatic gammaridean amphipods: variation of life history traits with latitude, depth, salinity and superfamily. Hydrobiologia 223: 189–227.
Savino, J. F. & R. A. Stein, 1982. Predator–prey interactions between largemouth bass bluegills as influenced by simulated, submersed vegetation. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 111: 255–266.
Sheader, M., 1977. Production and population dynamics of Ampelisca tenuicornis (Amphipoda) with notes on the biology of its parasite Sphaeronella longipes (Copepoda). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 57: 955–968.
Sheader, M., 1983. The reproductive biology and ecology of Gammarus duebeni (Crustacea: Amphipoda) in southern England. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 63: 517–540.
Steele, D. H. & V. J. Steele, 1973. The biology of Gammarus (Crustacea: Amphipoda) in the northwestern Atlantic. VII. The duration of embryonic development in five species at various temperatures. Canadian Journal of Zoology 51: 995–999.
Stoner, A. W., 1980. Abundance, reproductive seasonality and habitat preferences of amphipod crustaceans in seagrass meadows of Apalachee Bay, Florida. Continental Marine Science 23: 63–77.
Stoner, A. W. & R. J. Livingston, 1980. Distributional ecology and food habits of the banded blenny Parclinus fasciatus (Clinidae): a resident in a mobile habitat. Marine Ecology 56: 239–246.
Stuart, H., 1975. Distribution and summer energetics of invertebrate epifauna in an eelgrass (Zostera marina) bed. M.S. Thesis, NC State University: 76.
Sudo, H. & M. Azeta, 1996. Life history and production of the amphipod Byblis japonicus Dahl (Gammaridea: Ampeliscidae) in a warm temperate zone habit, Shijiki Bay, Japan. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 198: 203–222.
Thayer, G. W., K. A. Bjorndal, S. L. Ogden, R. B. Williams & J. C. Zieman, 1984. Role of larger herbivores in seagrass communities. Esturies 7: 351–376.
Venables, B. J., 1981. Aspects of the population biology of a Venezuelan beach amphipod, Talorchestia margaritae (Talitridae), including estimates of biomass and daily production, and respiration rates. Crustaceana 41: 271–285.
Vetter, E. W., 1995. Detritus-based patches of high secondary production in the nearshore benthos. Marine Ecology Progress Series 120: 251–262.
Waters, T. F. & J. C. Hokenstrom, 1980. Annual production and drift of the stream amphipod Gammarus pseudolimnaeus in Valley Creek, Minnesota. Limnology and Oceanography 25: 700–710.
Wildish, D. J., 1982. Evolutionary ecology of reproduction in gammaridean Amphipoda. International Journal of Invertebrate Report 5: 1–19.
Wildish, D. J., 1984. Secondary production of four sublittoral, soft-sediment amphipod populations in the Bay of Fundy. Canadian Journal of Zoology 62: 1027–1033.
Wildish, D. J., 1988. Ecology and natural history of aquatic Talitroidea. Canadian Journal of Zoology 66: 2340–2359.
Wildish, D. J. & D. Peer, 1981. Methods for estimating secondary production in marine Amphipoda. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 38: 1019–1026.
Yu, O. H., H. Y. Soh & H.-L. Suh, 2002. Life history and reproduction of Synchelidiym lenorostralum (Amphipods, Oedicerotidae) in a temperate sand shore, southern Korea. Journal of Crustacean Biology 22: 126–134.
Zar, J. H., 1984. Biostatistical analysis. Prentice Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: 781.
Acknowledgments
We thank H. G. Jeong, S. G. Seon, and J. I. Park for their assistance in the field and data processing. This study was financially supported by a Korean Research Foundation Grant (KRF-2005-015-C00526).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Handling editor: T. P. Crowe
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jeong, S.J., Yu, O.H. & Suh, HL. Reproductive patterns and secondary production of Gammaropsis japonicus (Crustacea, Amphipoda) on the seagrass Zostera marina of Korea. Hydrobiologia 623, 63–76 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-008-9648-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-008-9648-x