Lucy M. Turner
Salinity does not affect late-stage in-egg embryonic or immediate post-hatch development in an ecologically important land crab species
Turner, Lucy M.; Clayton, Katharine A.; Wiberg, Linn; Wilson, Charlotte H.; Ibbini, Ziad; Tills, Oliver; Spicer, John I.
Authors
Dr Katharine Clayton K.Clayton2@hull.ac.uk
Postdoctoral Research Assistant
Linn Wiberg
Charlotte H. Wilson
Ziad Ibbini
Oliver Tills
John I. Spicer
Contributors
Dr Katharine Clayton K.Clayton2@hull.ac.uk
Researcher
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.
Citation
Turner, L. M., Clayton, K. A., Wiberg, L., Wilson, C. H., Ibbini, Z., Tills, O., & Spicer, J. I. (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), https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.249629
| Journal Article Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Acceptance Date | Dec 15, 2024 |
| Online Publication Date | Dec 19, 2024 |
| Publication Date | Jan 1, 2025 |
| Deposit Date | Jan 13, 2025 |
| Publicly Available Date | Dec 20, 2025 |
| Journal | Journal of Experimental Biology |
| Print ISSN | 0022-0949 |
| Publisher | The Company of Biologists |
| Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
| Volume | 228 |
| Issue | 2 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.249629 |
| Public URL | https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/5003603 |
Files
This file is under embargo until Dec 20, 2025 due to copyright reasons.
Contact K.Clayton2@hull.ac.uk to request a copy for personal use.