Egg Size, Nauplius Size, and Their Variation with Local, Geographical, and Specific Factors in Some Common Cirripedes

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Abstract
Data are given of the egg-size of some cirripedes. The eggs of boreo-arctic species are remarkable for their large size compared with all others; it is considered that this is largely an adaptation to boreo-arctic conditions and that its survival value lies in the production of large larvae well equipped to deal with the available food. Egg-size also varies with size of parent. Data on egg-size in Balanus balanoides are presented for animals taken over a wide latitudinal range. Eggs are larger where winters are severe and summers relatively cold, irrespective of the latitude. Elsewhere it is difficult to show significant differences when adult size is taken into account. The change in egg-size within a warm-water or eurythermal species over a similar latitudinal range is much smaller than for B. balanoides. This is in part because of the rapid breeding cycle so that any given generation of eggs is exposed to the effect of temperature for only a short time.

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