GAMETOGENESIS IN DEEP-DWELLING AND SURFACE-DWELLING OCEANIC STALKED BARNACLES FROM THE NE ATLANTIC-OCEAN

The gametogenic development of the lower bathyal stalked barnacle, Poecilasma kaempferi Darwin, found attached to the exoskeleton of the large lithodid crab Neolithodes grimaldi, and the surface-living oceanic stalked barnacle Lepas anatifera L., living on an Argos buoy trapped in a mesoscale eddy in the NE Atlantic, has been examined. In P. kaempferi initiation of both oogenesis and spermatogenesis occurs at about approximately day 70; the first ripe testis is coincident with penis development at approximately day 145 and the first vitellogenic oocytes at approximately day 155; egg lamellae were observed in individuals approximately 170 days old. In L. anatifera testis development started at approximately day 43 and male organs were mature by approximately day 131; oocytes were first observed in individuals estimated to be approximately 26 days old and large oocytes were first found in animals after approximately 114 days; no egg lamellae were found in the oldest animals examined. These rates are slower than previously observed in L. anatifera but indicate that this species will undergo gametogenesis outside its normal geographic range although the temperature may be too low for successful completion of reproduction.