Abstract
The morphology of the egg capsules of five Hong Kong rocky shore littorinids, Nodilittorina trochoides, N. radiata, N. vidua, Peasiella roepstorffiana and Littoraria articulata are illustrated. The egg capsules of the three Nodilittorina are cupola-shaped and never exceed 250 µm in diameter, whilst those of P. roepstorffiana and L. articulata are biconvex lens-shaped with a capsule diameter of 300–400 µm. Ova are always singly encapsulated. The ovum diameter of the three Nodilittorina species is 65 µm and approximately 70 µm for the other two littorinids. There are species-specific differences in the elaborate morphology of the egg capsules, which can be used as supplementary characters for littorinid identification. A new description of the egg capsule of Nodilittorina vidua is given based on evidence from SEM studies.
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Mak, Y.M. Egg capsule morphology of five Hong Kong rocky shore littorinids. Hydrobiologia 309, 53–59 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014472
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014472