Size-related Egg Production in a Simultaneous Hermaphrodite, the Sea Hare Aplysia kurodai Baba (Mollusca : Opisthobranchia)

Abstract

The relationship between body size and egg production was investigated in a simultaneous hermaphrodite, the sea hare Aplysia kurodai Baba. Individuals of similar size were experimentally paired and the pairs were kept isolated from each other in the laboratory. Under this condition, large individuals produced more eggs per day than small individuals, while the size of eggs did not change with adult body size. It is argued that the positive correlation between body size and egg production rate is likely to occur in field populations of this sea hare.