Variation in Size at Sex-Change Among Natural Populations of the Protandrous Hermaphrodite, Crepidula fornicata (Gastropoda, Calyptraeidae)

Authors

J. Matthew Hoch, Florida International UniversityFollow
Abigail E. Cahill, State University of New York - Stony Brook

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Marine Biology

ISSN

0025-3162

Publication Date

4-2012

Abstract

Protandrous hermaphrodites are predicted to change sex from male to female when relative reproductive fitness of females surpasses that of males. How size at sex transition varies with population, mating group and individual parameters was investigated for five populations of the protandrous hermaphrodite slipper snail, Crepidula fornicata. The populations varied for density, size distribution, average mating group size and sex ratio. Size at sex-change was correlated with the population sex ratio. Comparisons of multiple hypotheses revealed that variables predicting the sex of a snail vary among positions in the mating group. The variables included body size, the relative size of the snail sitting atop the focal snail and population density. Our data support the conclusions that size at sex-change (and by inference, the size at which one sex has relatively greater fitness) is not fixed for these hermaphrodites and that individual size, social conditions and population differences all influence variation in relative fitness.

DOI

10.1007/s00227-011-1867-4

Volume

159

Issue

4

First Page

897

Last Page

905

Comments

©Springer-Verlag 2012

NSUWorks Citation

J. Matthew Hoch and Abigail E. Cahill. 2012. Variation in Size at Sex-Change Among Natural Populations of the Protandrous Hermaphrodite, Crepidula fornicata (Gastropoda, Calyptraeidae) .Marine Biology , (4) : 897 -905. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/720.