Moult staggering and serial monogamy in American lobsters, <em>Homarus americanus</em>

A mating system of serial monogamy is described for the American lobster, based on observations in large naturalistic aquaria. All except one of the receptive females staggered the timing of their moults at intervals throughout the summer so that each moulted and subsequently mated inside the shelter of a dominant male. In one experiment where there was no clear male dominance, the females moved back and forth from one male shelter to the other before 50% mated with one male and 50% with the other. Cohabitations lasted from 1 to 3 weeks and included periods of both pre- and postmoult shelter sharing. Moult staggering implies behavioural control over the female moult cycle.

基于在大型自然水族箱中的观察，描述了美洲龙虾的一种连续一夫一妻制的交配系统。除了一只之外，所有处于接受交配状态的雌性在整个夏季以一定间隔错开蜕皮时间，以便每只都能在一只优势雄性的庇护所内蜕皮并随后交配。在一个没有明显雄性优势的实验中，雌性在与一只雄性交配的比例为50%，与另一只雄性交配的比例也为50%之前，在两个雄性的庇护所之间来回移动。同居时间从1到3周不等，包括蜕皮前和蜕皮后共享庇护所的时期。蜕皮时间错开意味着对雌性蜕皮周期的行为控制。