Meeting Abstract
P3.130 Tuesday, Jan. 6 Parental Care in Leeches: Brood Size, Gestation Duration, Juvenile Survival, and Parent/Offspring Interactions in Two Arizona Populations of Helobdella stagnalis (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae). BERESIC-PERRINS, R. K.*; SHUSTER, S. M.; Northern Arizona University; Northern Arizona University rkb32@nau.edu
Helobdella stagnalis is a common glossiphoniid leech exhibiting postzygotic parental care. Hermaphrodic adults carry their broods ventrally for up to two weeks before juveniles become independent. When brooding, the parent ventilates young, and hunts for and presents food to growing juveniles. We collected adult H. stagnalis bearing cocoons from two distinct habitats; Montezuma Well (MW), AZ and the Rio de Flag (RDF), Flagstaff, AZ. In Montezuma Well, arsenic and dissolved CO2 levels are unusually high, whereas the Rio de Flag contains grey water from the outflow of the Rio de Flag Waste Water Facility. We compared brood size, the time required for all juveniles to detach from parents, and juvenile survivorship among leeches collected from each site. We also investigated whether detached juveniles will reattach to parents, and whether such juveniles discriminate between parents and non-parents when reattaching. We found significant differences in the average brood size (mean95%CI; MW: 2.80.18, N=19; RDF: 15.10.73, N=22) and juvenile survivorship (mean95%CI; MW: 13.61.18, N=19; RDF: 57.41.94, N=22) between the two populations; there was no difference in the time required for all juveniles to detach from the parent. The average brood size of the leeches at Rio de Flag was similar to other populations around the world whereas average brood size of the Montezuma Well leeches was well below this average. To date, the results of the parent/offspring experiment has shown that the juveniles both populations fail to recognize their parents; they reattach to any passing adult. Our results indicate that H. stagnalis is highly tractable in the laboratory, and suggest that distinct trade-offs between fecundity and care may exist within these populations.
