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Effect of Maternal Size, Reproductive Season and Interannual Variability in Offspring Provisioning of Carcinus maenas in a Coastal Lagoon

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Abstract

Maternal effects and larval experience are considered the most important sources of variability in offspring phenotypes in marine invertebrates. Maternal provisioning during oogenesis is the first of a series of processes that will ultimately affect offspring phenotype and population dynamics. The keystone species of several European estuarine environments, Carcinus maenas, was used as a model to analyse the effect of female size and reproductive season on the fatty acid (FA) profile of newly extruded (stage 1) and ready-to-hatch (stage 3) embryos, as proxies for maternal investment and quality of newly hatched larvae, respectively. A total of 60 ovigerous females of two different sizes (carapace width [CW]: small CW <40 mm; large CW ≥40 mm) from Ria de Aveiro (Portugal) were sampled during three different reproductive periods: early reproductive season (ERS, late March/early April) 2012, ERS-2013 and late reproductive season (LRS; July) 2013. Maternal size was not a reliable indicator of maternal provision or larval quality at hatching. The interannual comparison (ERS-2012 vs. ERS-2013) revealed that the FA profile of stage 3 embryos was likely shaped by environmental conditions in the coastal lagoon during incubation. The seasonal comparison (ERS-2013 vs. LRS-2013) showed that embryos in the LRS had higher quality lipid content than embryos in the ERS, suggesting an increase of energetic reserves destined for reproduction in females in the LRS. Studies on maternal investment that overlook temporal variability should be interpreted with caution, especially in species inhabiting highly dynamic environments such as coastal lagoons and estuaries.

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Acknowledgements

Felisa Rey was supported by PhD scholarships (SFRH/BD/62594/2009) funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) (QREN-POPH-Tipe 4.1 – Advanced training, subsidized by the European Social Fund and National Funds MEC). The present study was funded by FEDER through COMPETE, Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade and by national funding through FCT, within the research project NO RESET PTDC/BIA-BIC/116871/2010. RR is supported by the Investigator FCT program (IF/01373/2013). The authors are thankful to project REDE/1504/REM/2005 (that concerns the Portuguese Mass Spectrometry Network) and to the QOPNA research unit (project PEst-493 C/QUI/UI0062/2013, FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-037296).

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Felisa Rey, Henrique Queiroga & Ricardo Calado

  2. QOPNA, Departamento de Química, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    M. Rosário M. Domingues & Pedro Domingues

  3. MARE—Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Nossa Senhora do Cabo 939, 2750-374, Cascais, Portugal

    Rui Rosa

  4. Departamento de Física, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    María D. M. Orgaz

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  1. Felisa Rey
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  2. M. Rosário M. Domingues
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Rey, F., Domingues, M.R.M., Domingues, P. et al. Effect of Maternal Size, Reproductive Season and Interannual Variability in Offspring Provisioning of Carcinus maenas in a Coastal Lagoon. Estuaries and Coasts 40, 1732–1743 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0235-0

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