Why get big in the cold? Size-fecundity relationships explain the temperature-size rule in a pulmonate snail (Physa)

Most ectotherms follow a pattern of size plasticity known as the temperature-size rule where individuals reared in cold environments are larger at maturation than those reared in warm environments. This pattern seems maladaptive because growth is slower in the cold so it takes longer to reach a large size. However, it may be adaptive if reaching a large size has a greater benefit in a cold than in a warm environment such as when size-dependent mortality or size-dependent fecundity depends on temperature. I present a theoretical model showing how a correlation between temperature and the size–fecundity relationship affects optimal size at maturation. I parameterize the model using data from a freshwater pulmonate snail from the genus Physa. Nine families were reared from hatching in one of three temperature regimes (daytime temperature of 22, 25 or 28 °C, night-time temperature of 22 °C, under a 12L : 12D light cycle). Eight of the nine families followed the temperature-size rule indicat...