Lovnch and Vinuesa Reproduction of Paralomis granulosa 



671 



11 

 10 I- 



7 - 



£ 6 



to 5 

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3 - 



20% 



mm 



MAMJJASOD 



(11) (30) (39) (42) (31) (44) (38) (53) (9) 



Figure 6 



Relative frequency of gonadosomatic index (ratio ovaries weight : body weight * 100) of female 

 Paralomis granulosa during 1990. Sample size is indicated in parentheses below each month. 



3,688 eggs for females with ES-V eggs and 3,783 eggs 

 for females with asynchronously developing eggs, rep- 

 resenting about 88-90% of the estimated 4,201 eggs of 

 females with ES I — II clutches for a constant carapace 

 length (71.0mm). 



The ovaries and clutch of female P. granulosa were 

 limited to less than 6-7% of body size. Brood weight 

 varied from 3.67 to 30.39 g and scaled isometrically 



with weight of body, excluding clutch. Brood weight 

 was at most 7% of female body weight: 



log clutch weight = -0.94 + 0.89 log weight (body 

 excluding clutch) 



(n = 196; r 2 = 0.303 F„ 



81.99, P<0.001; ^-statistic 



for# slope=l = -1.122; P=0.26). 



In addition, towards the end of the reproductive cycle 

 in October (23rd month), GSI was about 6-7% (Fig. 6). 



Discussion 



Our data indicate that Paralomis granulosa has a bi- 

 ennial reproductive cycle. First, female P. granulosa 

 molt from late October to November, as evidenced by 

 occurrence of PRM and POM stages (Fig. 4B). We con- 

 sider that this event marks the beginning of the molt 

 cycle and thus of the reproductive cycle. The frequen- 

 cies of the different molt stages were consistent with 

 those of the embryonic developmental stages, suggest- 

 ing that embryogenesis and molting are phased. Em- 

 bryogenesis lasts 18-22 months and is protracted by a 

 10-month diapause. Females with ES-I and ES-II eggs 

 were always present throughout the year in the field 

 samples and laboratory. Eggs are extruded from Octo- 

 ber through November and embryonic development 

 stops or slows at the beginning of cell division (ES II 

 probably representing the diapause stage). After ap- 

 proximately one year of incubation, embryonic devel- 

 opment resumes between October and January, and 



