Page 30 - Crustaceans

Reproduction

• Most Crustaceans are either male or female and reproduce

sexually. A small number, including barnacles, are

hermaphrodites (monoecious), but they generally cross

fertilize. In other species, viable eggs are produced by a female

without needing to be fertilised by a male (Parthenogenesis,

Ostracods).

• In many decapods, the first one or two pairs of swimmerets are

specialised for sperm transfer by the males and the females

hold the eggs until they hatch into free-swimming larvae.

• In many species the fertilised eggs are just released into the

water or attached to objects in the water. The larvae

metamorphose through a number of stages before they

become adults.