Reproductive bionomics of some shallow-water lysianassoids in the Saint Lawrence Estuary, with a review on the fecundity of the Lysianassoidea (Crustacea, Amphipoda)

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Abstract
The life history and fecundity of five shallow-water lysianassoids from the Saint Lawrence Estuary were examined. Orchomenella minuta and Or. pinguis are annual and iteroparous (two broods), Psammonyx terranovae is iteroparous (two broods) and probably biennial, and Anonyx sarsi and Onisimus litoralis are biennial and semelparous. Females of A. sarsi and On. litoralis cease feeding on bait shortly before or after oviposition, whereas females of the iteroparous Or. pinguis stop feeding on bait only when broods are in the latest stages of embryo development. These ontogenetic changes may result from gut constriction caused by developing ovaries and broods, or may be due to behavioural changes. Data on the fecundity of the Lysianassoidea are reviewed, and it is concluded that deep-living species are probably much less fecund than shallow-living species. Anonyx nugax, Or. pinguis, and A. sarsi are more fecund than other lysianassoids, possibly because of their high-risk carrion-feeding and suprabenthic foraging activities.