Body Size, Maturation Size, and Growth Rate of Crustaceans

Crustaceans present a remarkable variety of forms that differ greatly in body size and growth strategies (determinate or indeterminate). This diversity reflects the long evolutionary history of this group and the variety of environments a crustacean may inhabit. It is rooted in a wide array of internal (physiological, structural) growth constraints and different extrinsic ecological factors determining the extent to which the body size of an individual crustacean attains its upper limit. We briefly review the combined effects of these factors with a focus on the effects of food quality and quantity, predation, and temperature on life histories in the context of an individual, as well as at the population and community levels. We discuss the discrepancy between the possible and the attained body size in an attempt to resolve the extent to which the observed pattern (1) is genetically based, (2) reflects the adaptive plasticity of the phenotype, and (3) is driven by global environmental changes.