Fecundity and Egg-Size of the Balmain Bug Ibacus Peronii (Leach, 1815) (Decapoda, Scyllaridae) Off the East Coast of Australia

Samples of egg-bearing female Balmain Bugs Ibacus peronii were collected from Coffs Harbour, NSW, and Lakes Entrance, Victoria, to estimate their fecundity and egg-size. Fecundities ranged between 5 500 and 37 000 eggs per brood with a mean egg diameter of 1.18 mm ±0.013 mm. Fecundity did not vary significantly between the two locations and the data were combined to provide a general fecundity-size relationship for I. peronii. This relationship is similar to those described for other scyllarid and palinurid lobsters in that it can be described by a positive linear regression.