Difference in Size at Maturity in Annual and Overwintering Generations in the Tanaidacean Zeuxo sp. in Oshoro Bay, Hokkaido, Japan.

We investigated the life cycle of the tanaidid Zeuxo sp. 1 (Crustacea: Peracarida: Tanaidacea), which lives epiphytically in dwelling tubes on the algae Sargassum spp. and Neorhodomela aculeata in Oshoro Bay, Hokkaido, Japan. We obtained data on its population size distribution, age structure, and reproductive phenology through monthly sampling from April 2011 to June 2012. From these data, we detected an overwintering group (F) that arises from mancae that are released in autumn, overwinters, reproduces the following spring, and then disappears. The overwintering group produces mancae (F) that reach maturity and themselves reproduce within six weeks after release; the F, mancae give rise to an F and possibly an F generation within a single summer. We refer to individuals that reproduce in the same summer that they were released as the 'annual group'. Reproduction overall was restricted to the period from May to October, when the seasurface temperature exceeded 10°C. During both years, overwintering females first became reproductive in May. Reproduction in the annual group began in June and continued through mid-October. Mancae were observed in samples from June through October. The two groups differed significantly in size at reproduction; compared to the annual group, females in the overwintering group reproduced at larger minimum and average body sizes, and males began to express enlarged chelae, a secondary sexual character, at a larger size. The difference in size at maturity may be related to the differences in water temperature during the main period of growth and maturation.