PRECOCIOUS CLASPING OF EARLY COPEPODITE STAGES: A COMMON OCCURRENCE IN ZA USODES ARENICOLUS

Precopulatory clasping was studied in the harpacticoid copepod Zausodes arenicolus in Tampa Bay, Florida. Clasping of all juvenile copepodite stages (I-V) was observed, but no adult females or males were clasped. Clasping of early copepodites, rarely reported for other harpacticoids, occurs frequently in Z. arenicolus. The size-distribution of clasped individuals changed seasonally, with a higher proportion of younger stages being clasped when adult males are abundant relative to juveniles than when juveniles are relatively more abundant. We suggest that clasping of early stages in Z. arenicolus may be a response to scarcity of available mates.

[1]  B. C. Coull,et al.  The ecology of marine meiobenthic harpacticoid copepods , 1983 .

[2]  R. Gaudy,et al.  Effect of temperature and salinity on the population dynamics of Tisbe holothuriae Humes (Copepoda:Harpacticoida) fed on two different diets , 1982 .

[3]  M. Bergmans.  A demographic study of the life cycle of Tisbe furcata (Baird, 1837) (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) , 1981, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[4]  R. Feller.  Quantitative cohort analysis of a sand-dwelling meiobenthic harpacticoid copepod , 1980 .

[5]  J. Fleeger.  Population dynamics of three estuarine meiobenthic harpacticoids (Copepoda) in South Carolina , 1979 .

[6]  G. Hicks.  Pattern and Strategy in the Reproductive Cycles of Benthic Harpacticoid Copepods , 1979 .

[7]  I. Walker.  Mechanisms of Density-Dependent Population Regulation in the Marine Copepod Amphiascoides sp. (Harpacticoida) , 1979 .

[8]  S. Jewett,et al.  Biology of the harpacticoid copepod, Harpacticus uniremis Kröyer on Dayville Flats, Port Valdez, Alaska , 1977 .

[9]  B. C. Coull,et al.  Reproductive periodicity of meiobenthic copepods: Seasonal of continuous? , 1975 .

[10]  S. M. Haq.  Breeding of Euterpina acutifrons, a harpacticid copepod, with special reference to dimorphic males , 1972 .

[11]  R. Harris.  Reproductive Activity of the Interstitial Copepods of a Sandy Beach , 1972, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[12]  A. Mcintyre,et al.  Growth, Reproduction, Respiration and Carbon Utilization of the Sand-Dwelling Harpacticoid Copepod, Asellopsis Intermedia , 1970, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[13]  A. Mcintyre,et al.  ECOLOGY OF MARINE MEIOBENTHOS , 1969 .

[14]  W. Wieser.  BENTHIC STUDIES IN BUZZARDS BAY II. THE MEIOFAUNA1 , 1960 .

[15]  L. W. Williams.  THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GRASPING ANTENNAe OF HARPACTICOID COPEPODS. , 1907, Science.