Salinity does not affect late-stage in-egg embryonic or immediate post-hatch development in an ecologically important land crab species
ORCID
- Lucy M. Turner: 0000-0002-9052-9498
- Oliver Tills: 0000-0001-8527-8383
- John I. Spicer: 0000-0002-6861-4039
Abstract
Environmental drivers such as salinity can impact the timing and duration of developmental events in aquatic early life stages of crustaceans, including terrestrial crabs of the family Gecarcinidae. Low salinity delays larval development in land crabs, but nothing is known about its influence on the crucial late-stage encapsulated embryonic or immediate post-hatch development. Therefore, we exposed fertilised late-stage embryos of the Christmas Island red crab (Gecarcoidea natalis) to differing salinities (100%, 75%, 50% or 25% sea water) for 24 h during their spawning period and measured some key developmental and physiological traits. We found no effect of salinity on time of first heartbeat, time of hatching, first in-egg embryonic and post-hatch heart rate, or post-hatch activity duration. These results highlight the importance of considering all early life stages when fully characterising the effects of environmental drivers on crustacean development, including under climate change.
DOI Link
DOI
10.1242/jeb.249629
Publication Date
2025-01-23
Publication Title
The Journal of Experimental Biology
Volume
228
Issue
2
ISSN
0022-0949
Embargo Period
2026-01-23
Keywords
Christmas Island, Embryo, Embryo phenomics, Gecarcinidae, Hatchling, Heart rate, Heartbeat
Recommended Citation
Turner, L., Clayton, K., Wiberg, L., Wilson, C., Ibbini, Z., Tills, O., & Spicer, J. (2025) 'Salinity does not affect late-stage in-egg embryonic or immediate post-hatch development in an ecologically important land crab species', The Journal of Experimental Biology, 228(2). Available at: 10.1242/jeb.249629
This item is under embargo until 23 January 2026
