Size at maturity of Liocarcinus depurator (Brachyura: Portunidae): a reproductive and morphometric study

1999 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rámon Muiño ◽  
Luis Fernández ◽  
Eduardo González-Gurriarán ◽  
Juan Freire ◽  
José A. Vilar
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Carapace Width ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Morphometric Study ◽  
Gonad Maturation ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Size At Maturity ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Morphometric Variation ◽  
Relative Growth

Sexual maturity in brachyurans is often associated with an allometric change in the relative growth of the animal. Maturity of Liocarcinus depurator was examined by analysing the monthly percentages of mature females (determined by the stage of gonad maturation and the presence of brood and sperm plugs) by size-class and the relative growth of different body parts: length and width of the carapace, length, height and width of the cheliped propodus; width of the abdominal segments in females and length of the first pleopod in males. Using the reproductive criteria the size at the onset of sexual maturity (carapace width at which 50% females are mature) in females of L. depurator is around 30–34 mm cephalothorax width. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the main source of morphometric variation for both sexes was due to heterochelia and allometric changes in growth. Morphometric variables were fitted using different regression techniques to one and two-phase growth models. The length of the first pleopod and the propodus of the right cheliped in males, and width of abdominal segments in females showed two clearly differentiated phases. Estimated maturity size (carapace width) corresponding to 50% mature animals was greater in males than in females. In males, size at the onset of maturity ranged between 31.4 and 35.7 mm, depending on the methods and variables used. The size at the onset of maturity in females ranged between 25.5 and 31.5 mm. In the Ría de Arousa, the size at maturity in females of L. depurator estimated using reproductive criteria is considerably greater than the size found based on morphometric criteria. The size at maturity based on morphometric criteria is greater in males than in females.

Relative growth in the Mediterranean endemic shore crab Brachynotus foresti Zariquiey Álvarez, 1968 (Decapoda: Brachyura: Varunidae)

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-356
Author(s):  
Antonio Sanz-Brau ◽  
Francesc Mesquita-Joanes
Keyword(s):  
Carapace Width ◽  
Shore Crab ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Size At Maturity ◽  
Growth Phases ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
First Time

Abstract The relative growth of crustaceans has become a solid field of study since the early allometric studies undertaken during the first decades of the 20th century. The type of relative growth of brachyuran crabs mainly depends on the number of critical moults and growth phases, as well as on differences in the slopes of the relative growth of secondary sexual characters. We analysed for the first time the allometric growth of the brachyuran Brachynotus forestiZariquiey Álvarez, 1968 (Varunidae), a small Mediterranean endemic species, testing whether its small size might impede the manifestation of large allometries through ontogeny. We obtained 13 body measurements from 370 females and 269 males collected from the eastern Iberian Peninsula. Carapace width ranged between 2.9 and 13.9 mm. Despite the small size, large differences between males and females were observed in the relative growth of the pleon and chelipeds, as previously seen in many other Brachyura. Females followed a two-phase growth pattern, with a clear pubertal moult separating them, approximately matching an estimated size at maturity of 6.8 mm. Males also showed a pattern of development in two phases, with an increased slope in the relative growth of chelipeds during the second phase, the shift corresponding to a size at maturity of 8.0 mm. The main effect of small size in Brachynotus foresti is that immature and mature growth phases overlap so that both males and females reach maturity over a wide size range.

scholarly journals Allometric Growth of the Freshwater Crab Potamon algeriense (Bott, 1967) (Decapoda, Brachyura, Potamidae) in Oued Zegzel, a Mountain Stream, in the Northeast of Morocco

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soufiane Fadlaoui ◽  
Mohammed Mahjoub ◽  
Ouahid El Asri ◽  
Mohammed Melhaoui
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Carapace Width ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Mountain Stream ◽  
Morphometric Study ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Freshwater Crab ◽  
Left Handed ◽  
Wet Weight ◽  
One Year

A morphometric study has been carried out for the first time on the population of the freshwater crab Potamon algeriense inhabiting Oued Zegzel, a tributary of the Lower Moulouya River, in the northeast of Morocco. Crabs were collected monthly over one year (October 2017 to September 2018) by excavating burrows and searching under blocks. A total of 669 crabs were obtained, 291 females and 378 males. Regression analysis was performed among carapace width (CW), as the reference dimension, and wet weight (WW), carapace length (CL), length and width of abdomen (AL and AW), and length and width of the cheliped (ChL and ChW) were chosen as dependent variables, using the allometric method. Based on Somerton’s technique, the onset of sexual maturity was estimated to occur at around 27mm CW for males and 32mm CW for females. The growth patterns recorded for P. algeriense are associated with the species reproductive strategy, i.e., preparation of body parts involved in female acquisition and egg incubation, like the male cheliped and the female abdomen, respectively. Among the 291 females sampled, 10.20% were left-handed and 89.80% were right-handed, while among the 378 males examined, 10.32% were left-handed and 89.68% were right-handed. It was concluded that the cheliped width and the abdominal width of P. algeriense are the morphometric variables most appropriate to estimate the size at the beginning of the sexual maturity for males and females of this species, respectively.

scholarly journals Comparative analysis of the relative growth of Uca rapax (Smith) (Crustacea, Ocypodidae) from two mangroves in São Paulo, Brazil

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela da Silva Castiglioni ◽  
Maria Lucia Negreiros-Fransozo
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Carapace Width ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Size At Maturity ◽  
Allometric Growth ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Two Populations ◽  
Major Cheliped

A study on the relative growth of two populations of Uca rapax (Smith, 1870) was performed primarily to determine the size at onset sexual maturity. The species was sampled monthly in Itamambuca (23º24'43"S and 45º00'73"W) and Ubatumirim (23º20'17.8"S and 44º53'2.2"W) mangroves. Carapace width (CW) and length (CL), abdomen width (AW), major cheliped propodus length (PL) and height (PH) for each sex, and gonopod length (GL) for males were measured with a calliper (0.01 mm). Allometric analyses were used to estimate size at maturity. The relationships that most precisely indicated the size at onset of sexual maturity were AW vs. CW, for females and PL vs. CW, for males. Males and females are mature, respectively at 15.2 and 12.1 mm CW in samples from Itamambuca and 13.5 and 11.2 mm CW in samples from Ubatumirim mangrove. Positive allometric growth of females abdominal width is likely related to the incubation process, while positively allometry growth of male's cheliped almost certainly relates to reproductive behaviour.

scholarly journals Relative growth and sexual maturity of the stone crab Menippe nodifrons Stimpson, 1859 (Brachyura, Xanthoidea) in southeastern Brazil

2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovana Bertini ◽  
Adriane Araújo Braga ◽  
Adilson Fransozo ◽  
Michéle de Oliveira Dias Alves Corrêa ◽  
Fulvio Aurélio de Morais Freire
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Carapace Width ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Positive Allometry ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Stone Crab

The relative growth and size at onset of morphological sexual maturity of the stone crab Menippe nodifrons were investigated. A total of 399 crabs was captured on Praia Grande and Tenório beaches at Ubatuba. Carapace width (CW) and length, cheliped propodus length and height, abdomen width in females, and gonopod length in males were recorded. In females, the abdominal width showed negative allometry for juveniles and positive allometry for adults; the puberty molt occurred at 31.6 mm CW. In males, the size at onset of morphological sexual maturity was estimated as 29.7 mm CW; the gonopod growth showed positive allometry for juveniles, and an isometric relationship for adults. The gonopod length and the abdominal width were the most appropriate morphometric variables to estimate size at onset of sexual maturity in this stone crab.

Integrated analysis of sexual maturation through successive growth instars in the spider crab Leurocyclus tuberculosus (Decapoda: Majoidea)

2017 ◽  
Vol 95 (7) ◽  
pp. 473-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ximena González-Pisani ◽  
Pedro J. Barón ◽  
Laura S. López Greco
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Maturation ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Carapace Width ◽  
Integrated Analysis ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Spider Crab ◽  
Size At Maturity ◽  
Frequency Distributions ◽  
The Right ◽  
Sexually Mature

An integrative analysis of sexual maturity associated with growth was developed for the spider crab Leurocyclus tuberculosus (H. Milne Edwards and Lucas, 1842). Sexual maturity was characterized based on gonadal, morphological, morphometric, and functional sexual maturity. Progress in sexual maturation was described through 13 growth stages (instars) detected by the examination of size (carapace width) frequency distributions. Mature females displayed mature ovaries, developed vaginae, open gonopores, allometric changes in the abdomen, and ovigerous stage in the transition from instar IX to instar X. Sexually mature males presented spermatophores in the distal vasa deferentia and allometric changes in several measurements of the right chela in the transition from instar X to instar XI. However, two prepubertal phases were recognized in both sexes separated from each other by a prepubertal critical molt. Preceding the second critical molt, gonopores were sealed and vasa deferentia showed no spermatophores, and therefore neither sex was able to mate. The integrated analysis of size at maturity and size frequency distributions showed that in both sexes molt to gonadal, morphological, morphometric, and functional sexual maturity occurred in advance of the terminal molt, in contrast with patterns observed in other Majoidea.

scholarly journals Size at sexual maturity of female crabs Sesarma rectum Randall (Crustacea, Brachyura) and ontogenetic variations in the abdomen relative growth

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 433-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria H. de A. Leme
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Carapace Width ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
Northern Coast ◽  
Growth Phases ◽  
Differential Growth ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Gonadal Maturity ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Size At Sexual Maturity

The aim of the present study was to ascertain the size at sexual maturity in females of the crab Sesarma rectum Randall, 1840 by comparing gonadal maturity to morphologic maturity (using abdomen-width data). The relative growth of the abdomen was analysed for all growth phases (for each 3-mm carapace width size class), and the slopes of the separate allometric relationships were compared through analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) from log e-transformed data to detect changes in the level of allometry during ontogeny. The physiological size at maturity (gonadal criteria) was determined through a logistic curve, indicating the size at which 50% of females presented mature gonads (M50 = 17.4 mm CW). The highest allometric levels occurred in growth phases 2 and 3 (body sizes ranging from 15 to 21 mm CW), indicating faster growth of the abdomen during those phases. Phases 1 (< 15 mm CW) and 4 and 5 (size classes above 21 mm CW) showed isometric growth. In the study area, a mangrove on the northern coast of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, individuals of S. rectum began to reach sexual maturity from 15 mm CW onward, when the slopes of the relationship of abdomen width to carapace width became positively allometric, indicating a differential growth rate. A gradual decrease in the slope, tending to isometry, occurred during ontogeny, as the animals became larger (older).

Relative growth, life-history phases, and sexual maturity of American lobster (Homarus americanus)

2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Émond ◽  
Bernard Sainte-Marie ◽  
Louise Gendron
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Homarus Americanus ◽  
American Lobster ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Growth Phases ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Cephalothorax Length

Previous studies of relative growth in crustaceans have focused primarily on body parts representing sexual characters for the purpose of determining size at onset of sexual maturity. We have revisited the relative growth of abdomen and crusher claw in American lobster ( Homarus americanus H. Milne Edwards, 1837) in a general life-history perspective using a broad spectrum of lobster sizes (6–160 mm cephalothorax length (CL)). Growth phases were recognized by inflections in scatterplots of a body-part measurement against CL. The abdomen is characterized by three growth phases in the male and female, whereas the crusher claw has at least three growth phases in the male and at least two in the female. Additionally, we explored relative growth of gonopod and vas deferens for males of 35–150 mm CL. Both organs exhibit a synchronous change from strong to weak positive growth allometry. The growth phases can be associated with major life-history events including the transition from a cryptic to an overt lifestyle and the onset of physiological, functional, and morphometric maturity. The onset of morphometric maturation inferred from relative growth of abdomen and crusher claw precedes functional maturity in females and follows it in males.

scholarly journals Morphological variability in populations of the fiddler crab Leptuca uruguayensis (Nobili, 1901) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae) from South America

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Setuko Masunari ◽  
Salise Brandt Martins ◽  
Murilo Zanetti Marochi ◽  
Wilson Sebastián Serra ◽  
Fabrizio Scarabino
Keyword(s):  
Posterior Margin ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Growth Analysis ◽  
Fiddler Crab ◽  
Carapace Width ◽  
Morphological Variability ◽  
Centroid Size ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Abiotic Variables ◽  
Major Cheliped

Abstract A comparative study on size and shape of Leptuca uruguayensis was carried out between populations from Garças River, Brazil (BP), and Solís Grande River, Uruguay (UP). The size of the onset of sexual maturity was also estimated for UP. A total of 36 crabs BP and 387 crabs UP were analyzed. In the relative growth analysis, carapace width (CW) for both sexes, major cheliped length (LMC) for males and abdomen width (AW) for females were measured. The centroid size of carapace (1.40±0.19 cm BP and 1.88±0.30 cm UP) and cheliped (1.16±0.22 cm BP and 1.58±0.45 cm UP) differed significantly (p<0.001). The shape also differed significantly (p<0.001), having UP wider carapace than BP, rostrum projected forward and posterior margin positioned more anteriorly; the cheliped of UP was also wider than BP. In UP, males' CW ranged 4.28-19.5 mm and females' 2.53-16.3 mm CW; males' LMC ranged 1.79-31.60 mm and females' AW, 0.80-8.53 mm. The onset of sexual maturity of UP was estimated in 12.20 mm CW for males and 7.81 mm for females. These differences are likely related to abiotic variables acting distinctly in the two localities.

scholarly journals Relative growth and reproduction in Achelous spinicarpus (Crustacea: Portunidae) on the south-eastern continental shelf of Brazil

2012 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 667-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
André L. Pardal-Souza ◽  
Marcelo A.A. Pinheiro
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Carapace Width ◽  
Gravimetric Method ◽  
Tropical Region ◽  
The South ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Size At Sexual Maturity

This investigation aimed to study the relative growth, morphological sexual maturity and fecundity of the swimming crab Achelous spinicarpus in a tropical region, on the south-eastern continental shelf of Brazil (25°S). Biometry of all specimens was conducted, including measurements of the cephalothorax, cheliped, abdomen and gonopods. Relative growth was described based on the equation for allometry (y = axb), and size at sexual maturity was determined from inflections in relations involving the cheliped, gonopods (males), and abdomen (females), as dependent variables, related to the cephalothorax width (independent variable). Fecundity was estimated by the gravimetric method. The relations of the length of the chelar propodus and carpal spine to the carapace width without the lateral spines (CW) showed positive allometry in both sexes, with a significant variation in the constant ‘b’ for males between the developmental stages (juvenile and adult) and the size at maturity estimated at 37 mm CW. In females, the abdomen was most appropriate for the estimate of morphological maturity, which occurred at a smaller size (32 mm CW), with a change in the growth pattern between the stages, passing from isometric (juveniles) to positive allometric (adults). The gonopods also showed different growth rates between developmental stages, in synchrony with the variables of the cheliped. Mean fecundity for the species was 53,984 eggs, with a positive correlation between the number of eggs exteriorized and the size of the female; the equations allowed interconversion between these variables, due to the adjustment of the power function (r2 ≥ 86%).

scholarly journals Size distribution and sex ratio between populations of the artisanal harvested land crab Cardisoma guanhumi (Decapoda: Gecarcinidae), with the estimation of relative growth and size at sexual maturity in Puerto Rico

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesús D. Quiñones-Llópiz ◽  
Concepción Rodríguez-Fourquet ◽  
Tomás Luppi ◽  
Nahuel E. Farias
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Carapace Width ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Land Crab ◽  
Cardisoma Guanhumi

Introduction: Knowledge of growth patterns, sex ratio, and sexual maturity are of importance to exploited populations. The land crab Cardisoma guanhumi is an artisanal and subsistence exploited species in Puerto Rico. However, the growth patterns and sexual maturity of the local populations are not known. Objectives: This study has a double objective: (1) to compare the size and sex structure between populations and (2) to model the relative growth of structures related to reproduction to estimate the average size of morphometric sexual maturity (MSM) for both males and females. Methods: A total of 2 849 specimens were captured from nine dispersed populations on the island between 2001 and 2020. Carapace width (CW) was measured as an estimator of the absolute size of all individuals, together with the propodus length (PL) in males and the abdomen width in females (AW). Differences in length structure between sexes and populations were tested by applying goodness-of-fit tests based on Kernel Density Estimators (KDE). The relative growth pattern was modeled adjusting a spline from which the maximum of its second derivative was calculated as an estimator of the MSM, and bootstrapping was used to generate confidence intervals. Results: Differences were found in size structures, between sexes, and between sites. Our estimates of morphometric sexual maturity resulted in a sexual maturity size for males between 57.9 and 79.0 mm CW, while in females, morphological maturity occurs between 43.8 to 51.5 mm CW. Conclusions: We found inter-population differences in body size that can be attributed to differences in the history of changes of land use and the exploitation biased towards larger individuals, though differences in recruitment should also be considered. Current regulations in Puerto Rico protect female crabs but not to larger male crabs. The regulation establishes that crabs smaller than 64 mm carapace width cannot be captured, leaving immature male crabs over 64 mm CW unprotected. We suggest considering different size limits depending on the sex of the crab. This will allow the full range of sizes where sexual maturity is reached to be protected, increasing the likelihood of the population’s size to increase.

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