Breeding and Fecundity of the Glass Shrimp, (Pasiphaea multidentata (Decapoda, Caridea), in the Gulf of Maine

Abstract

About 1450 specimens of the decapod crustacean Pasiphaea multidentata were collected in deep waters of the Gulf of Maine in 1966–69, and were examined for size, sex, weight, breeding, fecundity, and feeding. The sizes and sex ratios of the catches vary with the egg-bearing seasons, suggesting that ovigerous females are susceptible to greater predation. The data do not permit estimates of growth rates or age of maturity. The ratios of carapace length to total length differ in males and females. Two egg clutches per female per year were produced, the second clutch being smaller in numbers, probably because of "reproductive fatigue" in the female. In each clutch the number of eggs produced is a linear function of carapace length. About 50% of the stomachs were empty. Eighteen per cent contained crustacean remains of which about half could be identified as remains of the copepods Metridia longa, M. lucens, and Euchaeta norvegica. Epizoic suctorians were found on a few shrimps.