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Spermatophore production as a function of food abundance and age in the calanoid copepods, Acartia tonsa and Acartia hudsonica

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Abstract

Lifetime spermatophore (sperm packet) production, which can provide valuable information about male energetics and mating, is not known for any species of copepod. Spermatophore production could limit reproduction in species in which females require multiple matings to remain fertilized and in populations that often have adult sex ratios highly skewed toward females. Spermatophore production rates were measured in the laboratory for two species of calanoid copepods, Acartia tonsa and Acartia hudsonica, from time of maturation until death, and under three food regimes (high, low, and no food). Rates of spermatophore production in A. tonsa were independent of food treatment. By contrast, in A. hudsonica, spermatophore production was significantly greater under high food than in low or no food. Spermatophore production decreased significantly with age in both species and the majority of males ceased producing spermatophores halfway through their adult lives. This pattern occurred regardless of food treatment, except for in A. hudsonica under low-food conditions: low production rates in younger males were compensated by continued reproduction into old age. Therefore, there was no difference in the total lifetime number of spermatophores produced by males of A. hudsonica fed at high- or low-food conditions. In the absence of food, however, significantly fewer spermatophores were produced. In A. tonsa, there was no difference among food treatments in the total number of spermatophores produced over a male’s life. The effect of these low rates of spermatophore production on fertilization was evident in the field. During 2 years of weekly collections, at no point in time were all females in the population fertilized. We conclude that low rates of spermatophore production over a lifetime and the short reproductive period of males contribute to the low frequencies of mated females in field populations.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. OCE-1130284), and a Graduate Research Fellowship from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Connecticut awarded to Z.P. Burris.

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  1. Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, 1080 Shennecossett Road, Groton, CT, 06340, USA

    Z. P. Burris & H. G. Dam

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Correspondence to Z. P. Burris.

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Communicated by X. Irigoyen.

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Burris, Z.P., Dam, H.G. Spermatophore production as a function of food abundance and age in the calanoid copepods, Acartia tonsa and Acartia hudsonica . Mar Biol 162, 841–853 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-015-2628-6

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