Abstract
We present information on the reproductive biology, population structure, and growth of the brooding Antarctic bivalve Adacnarca nitens Pelseneer 1903, from the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Individuals ranging from 0.85 to 6.00 mm were found attached to a hydrozoan colony. This species shows low fecundity and large egg size, common to other brooding species. The minimum size at which oogenesis was detected was 2.3 mm and the minimum size at which brooding was evident was 3.9 mm. Embryos of a full range of developmental stages were brooded simultaneously in females. The population showed a log–normal distribution and results suggest non-periodic reproduction with continuous embryonic development. The reproductive traits of A. nitens are discussed in the context of circum-Antarctic species distribution and limitations to dispersal in brooding benthic invertebrates.
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Acknowledgments
N.D. Higgs and A.J. Reed equally contributed to this work. The authors express their thanks to Peter Rehm and the members and crew of the Italian R/V Italica expedition for collection of samples. Katrin Linse is thanked for confirming the species identification. This project was supported by the Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning Network of Excellence, MarBEF (Contract no. GOCE-CT-2003-505446) of the 6th European Framework Programme (FP6).
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Higgs, N.D., Reed, A.J., Hooke, R. et al. Growth and reproduction in the Antarctic brooding bivalve Adacnarca nitens (Philobryidae) from the Ross Sea. Mar Biol 156, 1073–1081 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1154-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1154-9