The true freshwater crabs(Crustacea,Decapoda,Brachyura) are highly adapted to life in freshwater and complete their life cycle entirely independently of sea water.All true freshwater crabs exhibit direct development a...The true freshwater crabs(Crustacea,Decapoda,Brachyura) are highly adapted to life in freshwater and complete their life cycle entirely independently of sea water.All true freshwater crabs exhibit direct development and lack the free-living larval forms(zoea and megalopa) typical of most other brachyurans.After a prolonged embryonic period(during which they pass through the typical brachyuran larval forms embryologically) the eggs of true freshwater crabs hatch to produce juvenile(hatchling) crabs.We provide here the first report and description of the continuous record of embryonic development from egg-laying up to hatching in the Chinese true freshwater crab Sinopotamon yangtsekiense Bott,1967(Potamoidea,Potamidae).Direct development(complete secondary embryonization) in S.yangtsekiense was observed to take 77 days and to include an additional embryonic phase(termed here the egg-juvenile-crab) that occurs in the embryo between the imprisoned megalopa and the newly-emerged juvenile(hatchling) crab.This is significant because the only other freshwater crab whose embryonic development has been studied in detail is Potamon fluviatilis(Potamidae) which takes 45-47 days and involves only nine embryonic stages.展开更多
This study expands on recent reports that direct development in the Chinese potamid freshwater crab Sinopotamon yangtsekiense involves the completion of all brachyuran larval stages (nauplius, zoea, and megalopa) insi...This study expands on recent reports that direct development in the Chinese potamid freshwater crab Sinopotamon yangtsekiense involves the completion of all brachyuran larval stages (nauplius, zoea, and megalopa) inside the egg case during embryonic development. Detailed studies of embryonic development in this species revealed the presence of an additional larval stage (the egg-juvenile) between the megalopa and the free-living hatchling crab. We described and compared the appendages of the head, thorax, and abdomen of the egg-juvenile with those of the hatchling crab in S. yangtsekiense. Significant differences were found between most of the appendages of these two stages with a soft exoskeleton in the egg-juvenile, no joint articulation, a slimmer appearance, and a lack of setae when compared with the newly emerged free-living hatchling crab. These modifications of the appendages are related to the confinement within the egg case of the egg-megalopa and egg-juvenile during direct development, and the need for the free-living hatchling freshwater crab to move, feed, and respire. In marine crabs, the megalopa gives rise to the first crab stage whereas in freshwater crabs the egg-juvenile follows the megalopa and immediately precedes the free-living first crab stage.展开更多
基金Supported by the Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project(No.S30701)the Leading Academic Discipline Project of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission(No.J50701)
文摘The true freshwater crabs(Crustacea,Decapoda,Brachyura) are highly adapted to life in freshwater and complete their life cycle entirely independently of sea water.All true freshwater crabs exhibit direct development and lack the free-living larval forms(zoea and megalopa) typical of most other brachyurans.After a prolonged embryonic period(during which they pass through the typical brachyuran larval forms embryologically) the eggs of true freshwater crabs hatch to produce juvenile(hatchling) crabs.We provide here the first report and description of the continuous record of embryonic development from egg-laying up to hatching in the Chinese true freshwater crab Sinopotamon yangtsekiense Bott,1967(Potamoidea,Potamidae).Direct development(complete secondary embryonization) in S.yangtsekiense was observed to take 77 days and to include an additional embryonic phase(termed here the egg-juvenile-crab) that occurs in the embryo between the imprisoned megalopa and the newly-emerged juvenile(hatchling) crab.This is significant because the only other freshwater crab whose embryonic development has been studied in detail is Potamon fluviatilis(Potamidae) which takes 45-47 days and involves only nine embryonic stages.
基金Supported by the Leading Academic Discipline Project of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission(No.J50701)
文摘This study expands on recent reports that direct development in the Chinese potamid freshwater crab Sinopotamon yangtsekiense involves the completion of all brachyuran larval stages (nauplius, zoea, and megalopa) inside the egg case during embryonic development. Detailed studies of embryonic development in this species revealed the presence of an additional larval stage (the egg-juvenile) between the megalopa and the free-living hatchling crab. We described and compared the appendages of the head, thorax, and abdomen of the egg-juvenile with those of the hatchling crab in S. yangtsekiense. Significant differences were found between most of the appendages of these two stages with a soft exoskeleton in the egg-juvenile, no joint articulation, a slimmer appearance, and a lack of setae when compared with the newly emerged free-living hatchling crab. These modifications of the appendages are related to the confinement within the egg case of the egg-megalopa and egg-juvenile during direct development, and the need for the free-living hatchling freshwater crab to move, feed, and respire. In marine crabs, the megalopa gives rise to the first crab stage whereas in freshwater crabs the egg-juvenile follows the megalopa and immediately precedes the free-living first crab stage.
