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Abstract
Buccinanops globulosus mated all year round, with higher frequency from May to September, prior to spawning months. Gravid females were found between October and March. Oviposition peaked during rising temperatures and longest daylength while hatching peaked with high water temperature and declining daylength. Gravid females measured between 20 and 41 mm in shell length. The spawn consisted on average of 31 egg capsules, each containing 1266 eggs. Embryos usually completed development within each egg capsule by ingesting small fragments of the uncleaved nurse eggs, which were not a limiting resource. Egg capsules with more than one embryo were not common; in those cases, the embryos had different sizes probably related to intracapsular competition for nutrients, and were on average smaller than solitary embryos in the other capsules. Embryos hatched as crawling juveniles with a mean hatchling shell length of ~3.4 mm. In a few cases, malformed embryos were found, but it was not a common phenomenon. The information recorded in this study, as the minimum reproductive size and spawning season, is valuable for fisheries management.
Acknowledgements
This research was partially supported by Projects: PIP-0051, PICTR-01869, PICT 1232, PICT-2929, and SA/1101. Special thanks are indebted to E.C. de Davies from Laboratorio de Climatología (CENPAT) who kindly offered environmental parameters data. The authors thank the anonymous reviewers that improved the final version of this manuscript. All research work including sampling and experiments comply with current Argentine laws.