Breeding and growth in laboratory-reared Microdeutopus gryllotalpa Costa (Amphipoda : Gammaridea)

Summary

The tube-building amphipod Microdeutopus gryllotalpa Costa was successfully reared through several generations in the laboratory. Females produced young at six to eight day intervals, as many as eleven broods being produced during the two-month reproductive life of a single female in the laboratory. Brood numbers increased and decreased cyclically throughout the breeding period of any one female and a maximum of 58 young in a single brood was recorded. At 21°C young moulted at five-day intervals during their early instars and at about nine to ten day intervals in their later stages. Both sexes reached sexual maturity after the ninth moult, but males continued to differentiate morphologically after attaining sexual maturity.