Methyl farnesoate couples environmental changes to testicular development in the crab Carcinus maenas

Abstract

Carcinus maenas males have two major color phases. Green-phase males molt frequently and tend to live in brackish estuaries during the summer. After becoming red-phase males, they molt infrequently, have higher mating success, and live in cooler, deeper water. We found profound differences between these two phases in the way salinity and temperature affect hemolymph levels of methyl farnesoate (MF), a hormone that affects crustacean reproduction. Few green-phase males (<10%) had detectable MF in 33ppt seawater (SW) at 11 or 18°C. By contrast, about 30% of the red-phase males had detectable MF at either temperature. After transfer to 5ppt SW, none of the green-phase males had detectable MF at 11°C whereas 100% of green-phase males did at 18°C. By contrast, 100% of the red-phase males had detectable MF in Sppt SW at either temperature. At 11°C, green-phase males had detectable MF after eyestalk ablation (ESA), showing that they can produce MF. There was no additional increase in MF levels when ESA animals of either color phase were transferred to Sppt SW, suggesting that the eyestalk is the primary regulator of the MF response to low salinity. MF levels of green-phase males were increased by injecting MF, by ESA, or by exposure to Sppt SW at 18°C. The testicular index of these treated animals nearly doubled after two weeks. Our results strongly suggest that environmental conditions such as temperature and salinity, affect testicular development in this crab by changing its MF levels.