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High prevalence of multiple paternity in the deep-sea shrimp Acanthephyra pelagica

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Abstract

Acanthephyra pelagica is a deep-sea pelagic shrimp with a global distribution. Mating has never been observed in this species as its pelagic lifestyle makes direct observations difficult. Multiple paternity has been reported for many other crustaceans, although not for deep-sea shrimp species like A. pelagica. Here we used four polymorphic microsatellite loci to test for multiple paternity. We genotyped the mother and a maximum of 63 of her brooded embryos in 19 ovigerous females, all of which exhibited evidence of multiple paternity; the frequency of multiple paternity is thus deemed to be close to 100 % in this species. The number of males contributing to each brood varied between 2 and 4 with evidence of pronounced reproductive skew suggesting the potential importance of mating order, different sperm contribution, the existence of pre-copulatory female choice, or post-copulatory sperm competition or selection. Our results with respect to multiple paternity, together with the size patterns, suggest a pure-search mating system. Our findings on the mating system of A. pelagica contribute to a better understanding of the reproductive behavior of this species.

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Acknowledgments

We thank MartinThiel and an anonymous referee for their very helpful comments on a previous version of the manuscript. The authors would like to thank Chief Scientist Dr. T. J. Kenchington (Gadus Associates, Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia) and other participants of the 2007–2010 trawl surveys of the mesopelagic fauna of the Gully MPA for collecting the samples used in this study. The surveys were funded by Fisheries and Oceans, Canada, through the Bedford Institute of Oceanography under the project management of EK. Also authors thank the Marine Gene Probe Lab colleagues: Ian Paterson, Gregory McCraken, Abby Van der Jagt and Ivan Vera. We also thank Paul Bentzen for valuable advice as well as Kevin MacIsaac and Lynne Anstey (Bedford Institute of Oceanography) for the help with taxonomy and support with laboratory analyses, respectively.

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  1. Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada

    Erika Jorquera, Ellen Kenchington & Daniel E. Ruzzante

  2. Ocean and Ecosystem Science Division, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, NS, B2Y 4A2, Canada

    Ellen Kenchington

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  1. Erika Jorquera
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Correspondence to Erika Jorquera.

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Responsible Editor: O. Puebla.

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Jorquera, E., Kenchington, E. & Ruzzante, D.E. High prevalence of multiple paternity in the deep-sea shrimp Acanthephyra pelagica . Mar Biol 163, 89 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-016-2868-0

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