Life Sciences Commons^™

Cyst Development In The Conchostracan Shrimp, Eulimnadia Texana(Crustacea: Spinicaudata), Donald Ott, Ronald Salisbury, Stephen Weeks, Vivien Marcus

Donald W. Ott

The fertilized egg (or cyst) of branchiopods is a highly resistant stage in the life cycle of these aquatic crustaceans. Previous examinations of these cysts have determined that early embryonic development arrests at a late blastula stage, resulting in a small, crescent-shaped body within the egg shell of these shrimp. Herein, we examine the early development of these embryos by sectioning eggs in the ovotestis, brood chamber, and several time periods after exit from the brood chamber in the clam shrimp Eulimnadia texana Packard. The early sections find no evidence of internal fertilization in the ovotestis. Eggs in the ovotestis …