Crustacean Sexual Biology

Sexual Biology and Reproduction in Crustaceans covers crustacean reproduction as it deals with the structural morphology of the gamete-producing primary sex organs, such as the testis and ovary, the formation and maturation of gametes, their fusion during fertilization, and embryonic development that lead to the release of larvae. Constituting a diverse assemblage of animals, crustaceans are best known by their common representatives, such as shrimps, lobsters, and crabs, but also include many more less familiar, but biologically important forms. This work covers the variety of ways in which both male and female gametes are produced by evolving different sexual systems in crustaceans, the range of reproductive systems, and the accordingly, and highly diverse, mechanistic modes of sex determination. In addition, the book features such topics as genetic and environmental determinants in sex determination pattern, variability of mechanisms of fertilization among different species, the origin of different mating systems, the associated mating and brooding behaviors, and the adaptive ability to different environmental conditions with discussion on the evolutionary ecology of social and sexual systems in certain species, which have shown eusocial tendencies, similar to social insects. Marine species occupying diversified ecological niches in tropical and temperate zones reproduce under definitive environmental conditions. Therefore, reproductive ecology of different crustaceans inhabiting different ecological niches also constitutes another important aspect of the work, along with yolk utilization and embryogenesis leading to release of different larval forms, which reflect on their aquatic adaptability. Forms a valuable source of recent references on the current research in crustacean reproductive physiology Covers various mating and breeding systems, providing illustrative examples for sexual selection, parental care of developing eggs and embryos, and the evolution of other reproductive behaviors Features contributions written in the form of review articles, enabling readers to not only gain information in the respective subject, but also help them stimulate ideas in their chosen field of research Includes a glossary created by the author to define technical terms Demonstrates the ability of crustacean species to serve as useful model systems for other organisms, to investigate issues related to sexual conflict, mate choice, and sperm competition Discusses techniques in endocrine research to help researchers in aquaculture develop protocols in the control of reproduction

This is the sixth volume of a ten-volume series on The Natural History of the Crustacea. The volume synthesizes in nineteen chapters our current understanding of diverse topics in crustacean reproductive biology. In the first part of this book, the chapters address allocation strategies to reproduction, gamete production, brooding behavior, and other components of parental care in crustaceans. The second part of the volume centers on sexual systems in crustaceans. The third section of the volume covers crustacean mating systems and sexual selection. Reproductive Biology ends with three chapters covering diverse topics including reproductive rhythms, crustacean personality research, and record breaking crustaceans with respect to reproductive characters.

Understanding of animal social and sexual evolution has seen a renaissance in recent years with discoveries of frequent infidelity in apparently monogamous species, the importance of sperm competition, active female mate choice, and eusocial behavior in animals outside the traditional social insect groups. Each of these findings has raised new questions, and suggested new answers, about the evolution of behavioral interactions among animals. This volume synthesizes recent research on the sexual and social biology of the Crustacea, one of the dominant invertebrate groups on earth. Its staggering diversity includes ecologically important inhabitants of nearly every environment from deep-sea trenches, through headwater streams, to desert soils. The wide range of crustacean phenotypes and environments is accompanied by a comparable diversity of behavioral and social systems, including the elaborate courtship and wildly exaggerated morphologies of fiddler crabs, the mysterious queuing behavior of migrating spiny lobsters, and even eusociality in coral-reef shrimps. This diversity makes crustaceans particularly valuable for exploring the comparative evolution of sexual and social systems. Despite exciting recent advances, however, general recognition of the value of Crustacea as models has lagged behind that of the better studied insects and vertebrates. This book synthesizes the state of the field in crustacean behavior and sociobiology and places it in a conceptually based, comparative framework that will be valuable to active researchers and students in animal behavior, ecology, and evolutionary biology. It brings together a group of internationally recognized and rising experts in fields related to crustacean behavioral ecology, ranging from physiology and functional morphology, through mating and social behavior, to ecology and phylogeny. Each chapter makes connections to other, non-crustacean taxa, and the volume closes with a summary section that synthesizes the contributions, discusses anthropogenic impacts, highlights unanswered questions, and provides a vision for profitable future research.

Dating back to the early Cambrian period, crustaceans had ample time to undertake endless experimentation with form and function. Today, no other group of plants or animals on the planet exhibit the range of morphological diversity seen among extant Crustacea. With more than 52,000 species, they are placed fourth in terms of overall species diversi

Rickey Cothran and Martin Thiel explore the reproductive biology of crustaceans from allocation strategies at the individual level to the ecology of mating systems.

This second volume in the Natural History of the Crustacea series examines how crustaceans-the different body shapes and adaptations of which are described in volume 1-make a living in the wide range of environments they inhabit, and how they exploit food sources. The contributions in the volume give synthetic overviews of particular lifestyles and feeding mechanisms, and offer a fresh look at crustacean life styles through the technological tools that have been applied to recent crustacean research. These include SEM (scanning electron microscope) techniques, micro-optics, and long-term video recordings that have been used for a variety of behavioral studies. The audience will include not only crustacean biologists but evolutionary ecologists who want to understand the diversification of particular life styles, ecologists who follow the succession of communities, biogeochemists who estimate the role of crustaceans in geochemical fluxes, and biologists with a general interest in crustaceans.

A look into the phenomena of sex and reproduction in all organisms, taking an innovative, unified and comprehensive approach.

Awarded Bookauthority's "Best Aquaculture Books of all Time" A comprehensive resource that covers all the aspects of sex control in aquaculture written by internationally-acclaimed scientists Comprehensive in scope, Sex Control in Aquaculture first explains the concepts and rationale for sex control in aquaculture, which serves different purposes. The most important are: to produce monosex stocks to rear only the fastest-growing sex in some species, to prevent precocious or uncontrolled reproduction in other species and to aid in broodstock management. The application of sex ratio manipulation for population control and invasive species management is also included. Next, this book provides detailed and updated information on the underlying genetic, epigenetic, endocrine and environmental mechanisms responsible for the establishment of the sexes, and explains chromosome set manipulation techniques, hybridization and the latest gene knockout approaches. Furthermore, the book offers detailed protocols and key summarizing information on how sex control is practiced worldwide in 35 major aquaculture species or groups, including fish and crustaceans, and puts the focus on its application in the aquaculture industry. With contributions from an international panel of leading scientists, Sex Control in Aquaculture will appeal to a large audience: aquaculture/fisheries professionals and students, scientists or biologists working with basic aspects of fish/shrimp biology, growth and reproductive endocrinology, genetics, molecular biology, evolutionary biology, and R&D managers and administrators. This text explores sex control technologies and monosex production of commercially-farmed fish and crustacean species that are highly in demand for aquaculture, to improve feed utilization efficiency, reduce energy consumption for reproduction and eliminate a series of problems caused by mixed sex rearing. Thus, this book: Contains contributions from an international panel of leading scientists and professionals in the field Provides comprehensive coverage of both established and new technologies to control sex ratios that are becoming more necessary to increase productivity in aquaculture Includes detailed coverage of the most effective sex control techniques used in the world's most important commercially-farmed species Sex Control in Aquaculture is the comprehensive resource for understanding the biological rationale, scientific principles and real-world practices in this exciting and expanding field.

Demand for crustacean production is increasing significantly throughout the world, and crustacean production from capture fisheries has almost stagnated. Aquaculture is the only possibility to meet this ever-growing demand for crustaceans. Still, many commercially important crustaceans are being captured from the wild, while breeding and seed production technologies are not available for these species. The bottleneck in the successful breeding of crustacean species is mainly due to the non-availability of information about reproductive biology. Studies on crustacean reproduction will shed new light on understanding the mechanism of sex determination and differentiation; meanwhile, the application of innovative techniques will vitally contribute to the progress of the crustacean industry. The research findings on crustacean reproduction will directly benefit aquaculture for successful captive breeding and seed production. Here, we are gathering both original research and review papers with the scope of the research topic, including but not limited to: • Mechanism of sex determination, sexual differentiation, and gonadal development in crustaceans; • Other life functions (e.g. endocrine, nutrition, immunity, heredity) involved in reproduction in crustaceans; • Applications of modern endocrinological and molecular approaches contributed to crustacean reproduction.