Document of bibliographic reference 312379

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

First observations of hermaphroditism in the patellid limpet Patella piperata Gould, 1846

Abstract

Hermaphroditism is thought to be an advantageous strategy common in marine molluscs that exhibit simultaneous, sequential or alternating hermaphroditism. Several species of patellid limpets have previously been shown to be protandrous hermaphrodites. The present study aimed to confirm whether this phenomenon occurs in Patella piperata. Transitional forms of simultaneous protandrous hermaphroditism were found in intermediate size classes of P. piperata, in Madeira (North-eastern Atlantic). Sequential hermaphroditism was confirmed after histological analysis. The overall sex-ratio was biased towards females but approached similar proportions in the larger size classes. Analysis of size at sex change showed that at a shell length of 36 mm 50% of the population probably have changed sex. The results reported confirm the occurrence of sequential hermaphroditism. These findings are of utmost importance to the understanding of the reproductive biology of this species with direct effect on management and conservation of this traditionally harvested limpet.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000512164400013

Bibliographic citation

Sousa, R.; Henriques, P.; Vasconcelos, J.; Faria, G. (2019). First observations of hermaphroditism in the patellid limpet Patella piperata Gould, 1846. J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 99(7): 1615-1620. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315419000559

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true