Lone procreation vs. lone egg formation

[Elysia]

I know that some turtles and lizards can become egg-bound in captivity, and that there are reports of snakes and other creatures producing offspring without having contact with another member of its species. {Are those cases of sperm hoarding, or is it actual -- shoot, I forget the term -- when an embryo is the result of two eggs joining?}

I guess my first real question is: will a lone Lysmata spp. cleaner shrimp produce eggs despite there not being any other shrimp available to fertilize them? Or, if the eggs are visible on the shrimp, are they fertilized?

 

[Elysia]

Anyone? It definately appears that my lone Lysmata spp. cleaner shrimp has eggs that it is oxygenating on its abdomen (and occassionally picking off and eating -- I don't know if it will eventually eat all of them, as I assume they are not fertilized.)

Anyone know if these shrimp can fertilize their own eggs?

 

[pagojoe]

Parthenogenesis? I don't know. Some slugs are theoretically capable of self-fertilization, but they are hermaphroditic. Quite a few larger animals do it (remember the story on the Komodo dragon?). No idea if any crustaceans are capable. Lots of animals are capable of long-term sperm storage, though. Try searching "parthenogenesis crustaceans" or "parthenogenesis shrimp" and see what you find...

Cheers,




Don

 

[greenbean36191]

These shrimp will continually produce and hold eggs once they are sexually mature, regardless of whether they have been fertilized. They can store sperm for short periods, but AFAIK it's only on the order of days, not months.

Theoretically, almost any animal is capable of parthenogenesis, though it's not common in most of the "higher" taxa. There are probably a few cases of these shrimp fertilizing eggs without a mate (whether they fertilized themselves or it's true parthenogenesis), but for the most part, without a mate you're going to have infertile eggs.

 

[kyrin01]

yes most animals capable of producing eggs will produce them on a continual basis just they wont be fertilized. Think of it like a chicken, they lay eggs thier whole life but without access to sperm the eggs wont fertilize. (easiest analogy i could come up with)

But obviously there are the asexual animals and all that stuff... but that is a diff thread i believe.. haha

 

[Elysia]

Thanks guys. I wasn't sure if hermaphoditic animals produced eggs regularly or not. I love learning new things!