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Sexual maturity of the swimming crab Callinectes danae (Crustacea: Portunidae) at the Santa Cruz Channel, a tropical coastal environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 August 2011

Marina S.L.C. Araújo ,
Aurinete O. Negromonte ,
Aline V. Barreto  and
Daniela S. Castiglioni
Marina S.L.C. Araújo*
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Carcinologia, Departamento de Oceanografia (DOCEAN), Universidade Federal de Permambuco (UFPE), Avenida da Arquitetura, s/n, Cidade Universitária, CEP 50. 740–550, Recife, Pemambuco, Brazil
Aurinete O. Negromonte
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Carcinologia, Departamento de Oceanografia (DOCEAN), Universidade Federal de Permambuco (UFPE), Avenida da Arquitetura, s/n, Cidade Universitária, CEP 50. 740–550, Recife, Pemambuco, Brazil
Aline V. Barreto
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Carcinologia, Departamento de Oceanografia (DOCEAN), Universidade Federal de Permambuco (UFPE), Avenida da Arquitetura, s/n, Cidade Universitária, CEP 50. 740–550, Recife, Pemambuco, Brazil
Daniela S. Castiglioni
Affiliation:
Centro Acadêmico de Vitoria (CAV), Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Rua Alto Resematório, s/n, Bela Vista, CRP 55. 608–680, Vitória de Santo Antão Permambuco, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: M.S.L.C. Araújo, Avenida Arquitetura, s/n, Cidade Universitária, Recife–PE, CEP 50.740-550 email: mslc.araujo@gmail.com
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Abstract

This paper aims to study the morphological and gonadal maturity of the swimming crab Callinectes danae in the Santa Cruz Channel, Brazil. Crabs of both sexes were measured at carapace width (CW), carapace length (CL), abdomen width (AW), length of the right chelipod (LRC), and dissected to visualize the gonads. The gonadal maturity was estimated based on the frequency of mature individuals per class of CW, and the determination of morphological maturity was based on the relationship between the structures LRC versus CW for males and AW versus CW for females. The sizes that 50% of females reached gonadal and morphological maturity were 62.5 and 59.5 mm CW respectively. In turn, the sizes that 50% of males reached gonadal and morphological maturity were 74.5 and 70.5 mm CW respectively. In the analysis of dispersion of points in relation to AW versus CW, it could be observed that juvenile females showed positive allometry and adult females showed negative allometry, indicating a higher growth rate during the juvenile phase, related to the need of expanding the abdomen for egg incubation at the adult phase. In the relation LRC versus CW, it was observed that both juvenile and adult males showed positive allometry, but changes in the degree of allometry were evident between the two phases. The exceeding growth of the chelipod of males may be related to the reproductive process, including courtship and agonistic interactions with other males.

Keywords

sexual dimorphismgrowthmorphometryBrachyurabiometric relationships
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 92 , Issue 2 , March 2012 , pp. 287 - 293
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011

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