Large mothers, but not large fathers, influence offspring number in a caridean shrimp.

The relationship between parental mass and female reproductive output, as well as offspring quality, was studied in the red cherry shrimp Neocaridina davidi (Bouvier, 1904) under controlled laboratory conditions. Adult males and females of the same age were paired combining different shrimp masses. The number of hatched juveniles from large females was higher than that from small ones, but no influence of paternal mass was detected on this variable. Both the mass of newly hatched juveniles and their growth increment during a 60-day period were similar for all parental masses. Shrimps reached sexual maturity at the end of the growth period in all treatments, and their biochemical reserves (glycogen, lipid and protein concentrations) were not associated with maternal and paternal mass. However, lipid concentration was higher in female offspring than in male offspring. The present results show that, unlike maternal mass, paternal mass had no effect on female reproductive output and offspring quality, suggesting that malesâ contribution to offspring development was adequate regardless of male size.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author