Estimation of the reproductive output of the burrowing shrimp Callianassa tyrrhena: a comparison of three different biometrical approaches

The reproductive output of the burrowing shrimp Callianassa tyrrhena was studied using different biometric approaches. The parameters considered in the three methods used for such estimation included the size of the mother, the mother's weight loss due to oviposition and the loss of ovary weight due to oviposition. Each of the approaches provided insights about the complexity of the different events in the reproductive biology of C. tyrrhena in relation to the molting process or its inhibition. It appears, however, that molting just before oviposition and its inhibition during the yolk accumulation in the ovary are the major determinants of the reproductive output of C. tyrrhena.