Reproductive behaviour of captive Fenneropenaeus merguiensis: Evidence for monogamy and high between family variances for offspring number

Third, we assessed the between family variance in offspring family numbers from two sets of mass spawnings of about 40 inseminated females per spawn. About half of the offspring originated from just 20 percent of the dams, i.e. many dams contributed few offspring. These data can help predict optimal sample sizes required for accurate future estimates of genetic parameters.