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.

Relative Growth and Its Use to Determine the Morphological Sexual Maturity of Ucides Cordatus (Linnaeus, 1763) (Decapoda, Brachyura, Ucididae) from Two Mangrove Areas on the Northeastern Brazilian Coast

Crustaceana ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 84 (10) ◽  
pp. 1221-1241 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Carapace Width ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Brazilian Coast ◽  
Positive Allometry ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Ucides Cordatus ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
One Year ◽  
Major Cheliped

AbstractThe study of relative growth was used to determine the dimensions that best demonstrate the morphological sexual maturity of Ucides cordatus from two mangrove areas (Ariquindá and Mamucabas) of the southern coast of the state of Pernambuco, northeast Brazil. The crabs were collected manually, with a capture effort by one person, during low tide in three different areas (each 25 m2) during a period of one year from April 2008 to March 2009. Crabs of both sexes were measured for the following dimensions: carapace width (CW); carapace length (CL); major cheliped propodus length (CPL); major cheliped propodus height (CPH); abdomen width (AW) and gonopod length (GL). These variables were subjected to an analysis of K-means clustering followed by a bivariate discriminant analysis, which separated the data into two groups: juveniles and adults. After separation of the groups, each age category was grouped into sixteen size classes of CW and the proportion of adults in each size class was calculated, and fitted to a logistic equation. Subsequently, an interpolation was performed to determine the size at which 50% of the males and females were mature. The relationships that best demonstrated the size at maturity were CPL vs. CW for males (Positive allometry; Ariquindá — juveniles b = 1.27, adults b = 1.41; Mamucabas — juveniles b =1.27, adults b = 1.44) and AW vs. CW for females (Positive allometry; Ariquindá — juveniles b = 1.34, adults b = 1.28; Mamucabas — juveniles b = 1.32, adults b = 1.44). The present analysis indicates that, for these same relationships, 50% of males and females are morphologically mature, at, respectively, 38.0 and 35.4 mm CW in Ariquindá, and 37.3 and 32.9 mm CW in Mamucabas. Positive allometry shown in the female abdomen is related to egg incubation, and the excessive growth observed in the male cheliped must be related to reproductive behaviour, including courtship and intra- or inter-specific agonistic interactions with other males.

scholarly journals Relative growth and morphological sexual maturity of Uca cumulanta (Crustacea: Decapoda: Ocypodidae) from a tropical Brazilian mangrove population

2008 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 569-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Gabriel Nunes Pralon ◽  
Maria Lucia Negreiros-Fransozo
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Fiddler Crab ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Allometric Growth ◽  
Ontogenetic Changes ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Major Cheliped ◽  
Female Abdomen ◽  
Janeiro State

The relative growth of the fiddler crab Uca cumulanta was studied, primarily to determine the size at the onset of sexual maturity for a mangrove population in the estuary of the Patitiba River, Paraty, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The evaluation of the morphological sexual maturity of U. cumulanta was performed using the allometric technique. The relationships that most precisely indicated the size at onset of sexual maturity were carapace length (CL) vs propodus length for males and CL vs abdomen width for females. Males and females are mature at 5.25 and 4.75 mm CL, respectively. The remarkable ontogenetic changes observed in the allometric growth of the male major cheliped and the female abdomen, indicate that growth of these structures is closely connected to the timing of sexual maturity. The relative size at onset maturity obtained for this species was 0.68 and this index was compared to that seen in other species in the genus.

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.

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.

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 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.

Morphological maturity and allometric growth in the squat lobster Munida rugosa

2009 ◽  
Vol 89 (6) ◽  
pp. 1189-1194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Claverie ◽  
I. Philip Smith
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Error ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Carapace Length ◽  
Size Range ◽  
Size At Maturity ◽  
Allometric Growth ◽  
Positive Allometry ◽  
Squat Lobster

Size at the onset of sexual maturity was determined in Munida rugosa based on allometric growth of chelipeds and abdomen, and on the proportion of ovigerous females. The variability of three different measurements of carapace length (CL) used previously for M. rugosa was also evaluated to minimize measurement error. Both sexes had symmetrical cheliped length and allometric cheliped growth over the size-range investigated, but males showed increased allometry beyond 22 mm CL. Females had greater positive allometry in abdomen width than males, but their size at maturity could not be precisely determined because sampled females were too large.

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.

Sexual dimorphism in the claws of the European terrapin (Emys orbicularis): potential implications for the reproductive fitness of the species.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Alarcos ◽  
Jaime Madrigal-González ◽  
Miguel Lizana ◽  
Fabio Flechoso
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Reproductive Fitness ◽  
Emys Orbicularis ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Males And Females

There are many biometric differences between the males and females of the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) as regards their size, colouring, the shape of the plastron, tail, etc. The males use their claws to grasp the female during copulation and hence sexual selection should favour the males that have larger claws, which allow them to grasp the female better. Here, we address this type of sexual dimorphism in a comparative analysis of indices obtained from claw length, the length of the carapace and the locality where individuals were sampled. The results show that the curvature of the claws differs between the two sexes, being longer in males and increasing with age, size, and hence, the state of sexual maturity, than in females. Greater claw length could confer advantages for males when grasping the carapace of females, and hence, improve their reproductive fitness. Importance in the reproductive success that might have this feature in males could originate future studies that will relate the shape, thickness, length and other measures of the claws in males with their reproductive success in different populations, genetic variety, and most importantly, viability of populations. 

scholarly journals Relative growth of freshwater prawn Macrobrachium brasiliense (Decapoda, Palaemonidae) and its implications for reproduction

2019 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caio dos Santos Nogueira ◽  
Marcela Silvano de Oliveira ◽  
Giuliano Buzá Jacobucci ◽  
Ariádine Cristine de Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Carapace Length ◽  
Freshwater Prawn ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Guarding Behavior ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
One Year ◽  
Almost All

ABSTRACT The main objective of this study was to estimate the morphological sexual maturity of Macrobrachium brasiliense (Heller, 1862) and to analyze the relative growth of the species. During one year of sampling, from July 2012 to June 2013, 199 specimens were collected in a stream located in a Cerrado biome, in the Triângulo Mineiro region, state of Minas Gerais. Once identified and sexed, the length of the carapace, the length of the segments of the chelipeds (ischium, merus, carpus, propodus and dactyl) and width of the pleura were measured (mm). The maximum and mean sizes of the carapace length measured 20.5 mm (Mean: 9.6 ± 4.2 mm) and 20.1 mm (Mean: 7.7 ± 3.4 mm) for males and females, respectively. The propodus length for males, and the pleura width for females, were used for the classification of the specimens into juvenile and adult, using K-means analysis and discriminant analysis. The relative growth of the species was also evaluated through covariance analysis for all structures (ANCOVA, α = 0.05). In females, the growth of most structures occurred equally between juveniles and adults, with the exception of the merus and pleura structures. On the other hand, the growth of almost all structures of males differed between juveniles and adults. Only the carpus and the pleura growth were similar. We also estimated the size at onset of morphological sexual maturity at 8.64 mm CL for males (CL50% r = 1.71) and 8.03 mm CL for females (CL50% r = 0.07). Our results contribute to the understanding of some important questions related to the reproductive biology of M. brasiliense. We noted that males grow differently from females and become the largest individuals in the population, resulting in a sexual dimorphism. Such sexual dimorphism might promote the development of the temporary mating guarding behavior, a reproductive strategy very important for caridean shrimps.

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