This monograph is the first to state by a systematic research the rules which control the production of the organic losses in shape of eggs and exoskeletons during the life of Crustacea. The weight and the energy content of the material thrown out are the chief criteria selected to characterize the germinal production, relative to the egg-mass, and the exuvial production, relative to the organic fraction of the exoskeleton. The determination of these parameters, at the level of the organism or of the population, takes into account the systematic position of the animals, the duration of their intermolt periods, fecundity and other indices in relation to environmental factors. The loss of matter and energy with reproduction and molting(studied for different... |