THE EFFECTS OF FACTORS IMPORTANT IN SEMI-ARID ENVIRONMENTS ON THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OFUCA SUBCYLINDRICA

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Abstract
Lack of food and salinity extremes are conditions encountered by the early life stages of U. subcylindrica in their semi-arid habitats, where nursery areas are temporary rainfall puddles. Several characteristics of the larvae and early postlarvae promote high survivorship in these extreme environments. When starved, yolk reserves in the 2 zoeal stages lasted through metamorphosis to the megalopal stage and allowed .gtoreq. 50% survival for 11 days after that. Food was required by the megalopae before molt to crab I occurred. Larvae and early postlarvae survived and developed in a wide range of salinities under laboratory conditions.sbd.0.08 to .apprx. 50.permill.. The ability to hyperosmotically regulate the blood was present at hatch. Tolerance to higher salinities increased with successive stages as the ability to hypo-osmotically regulate improved. The early stages of other fiddler crab species are unlikely to survive and develop in the conditions experienced by the zoeae, megalopae and early crabs of U. subcylindrica in their unusual habitats.

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