Continuous Reproduction Causes Stable Population Structure of Antipatharian-Associated Shrimp Sandyella tricornuta (Decapoda: Palaemonidae)

Sandyella tricornuta (Hendrickx, 1990) is a small (60% of the entire S. tricornuta population and >59% of the collected females were ovigerous females, suggesting active reproduction throughout the year and along the latitudinal gradient investigated. Sandyella tricornuta population density and sex ratio was similar throughout the year indicating a seasonally stable population size. Total abundance of S. tricornuta was density independent of black coral colony size and weight indicating that S. tricornuta depends on A. galapagensis, but the black coral colony can grow and develop without S. tricornuta characteristic of a commensalism ectosymbiotic association. Keywords: Caridea, symbiosis, population density, sex ratio, ovigerous female, cohort overlap, Gulf of California, Mexico
SANDYELLA TRICORNUTA (Hendrickx, 1990) is a small ( Distribution records of S. tricornuta includes Islas Marias Archipelago (Hendrickx 1990), Clipperton Island (Li 2006, Li and Poupin 2009), Bahia de La [...]