BIOTIC

BIOTIC Species Information for Hippolyte spp.

Researched by

Sean Lindsley-Leake

Data supplied by

MarLIN

Refereed by

This information is not refereed

Reproduction/Life History

Reproductive type

Protandrous hermaphrodite
Gonochoristic

Developmental mechanism

Planktotrophic

Reproductive Season

April to October

Reproductive Location

As adult

Reproductive frequency

Annual episodic

Regeneration potential

Life span

Insufficient information

Age at reproductive maturity

<1 year

Generation time

<1 year

Fecundity

Insufficient information

Egg/propagule size

0.4mm

Fertilization type

Internal

Larvae/Juveniles
Larval/Juvenile dispersal potential	Insufficient information	Larval settlement period	Two periods of recruitment
Duration of larval stage	1-2 months

Reproduction Preferences Additional Information

The shrimp Hippolyte inermis Leach, 1815 lives in shallow waters of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Atlantic coast of Spain. It forms stable populations in seagrass meadows, mainly in Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa. Most individuals exhibit a green mimic colour. Investigations by Reverberi (1950) and Veillet et al. (1963) demonstrated individuals experiencing a male stage prior to switching to female i.e. protandric sex reversal. Juvenile diet shifts from zooplankton (larvae) to microalgae and microzoobenthos (settled postlarvae). Sex differentiation occurs at a size of 5-7 mm (Veillet et al. 1963); sex reversal was observed in individuals of 10-13 mm, corresponding to an age of 7-12 months. Not all individuals exhibit sex reversal. In fact, young females of 5-6 mm length are present in natural populations. They are smaller than any male and are produced by direct differentiation. Two main periods of recruitment, spring and fall, were detected in the life cycle of H. inermis. Individuals born in spring grow quickly and develop as either females or males, while individuals born in fall grow slowly and develop as males, changing sex in the next spring. The spring period of maximum abundance of the smaller females in natural populations corresponds to a massive epiphytic production in the leaf stratum of P. oceanica. The size range within Hippolyte is from 20mm to 42mm.

Reproduction References

Veillet et al., 1963, Reverberi, 1950, Sheild, 1978, Zupo & Messina, 2007, Cobos et al., 2005, Zupo & Buttino, 2001,