Growth and Reproduction of the Portunid Crab Charybdis Bimaculata (Decapoda: Brachyura) in Tokyo Bay

Abstract

A B S T R A C TThe abundance, sex ratio, growth, sexual maturity, morphological sex dimorphism, and reproduction of the portunid crab Charybdis bimaculata was studied in Tokyo Bay, Japan, between November 2002 and October 2003. Relative abundance [inferred from catch-perunit-effort (CPUE)] was higher and lower during summer and winter months, respectively. The proportion of males varied between 0.2-0.5 throughout the year and the overall sex ratio was greatly biased toward females. The population had a unimodal size frequency distribution and the life-span was estimated to be about one year. Growth was not depressed in winter and was adequately described by the von Bertalanffy growth equation. The puberty molt in males brought about changes in the relative size of the chelipeds and gonopods and was estimated to occur within a carapace length (CL) range of 12.50-16.00 mm. Puberty in females was evidenced by a sharp increase in the pleon width and was estimated to occur at CLs between 11.34 and 16.74 mm. Morphological sexual dimorphism was observed in all features which showed secondary sexual development (cheliped dimensions, carapace and pleon width, and body weight). Ovarian development was uniformly arrested only during winter but began developing in early spring, and mating (insemination) increased in frequency between spring and summer. Ovigerous females were found in all seasons except for winter, but were more common during the warmer months. Batch fecundity ranged from 8,300 to 38,400 eggs per female and was positively correlated with body size. C. bimaculata displays the typical reproductive features and spawning pattern of temperate portunid crabs in spite of its short life-span.

Short Communication: Biological aspects of Charybdis anisodon (De Haan, 1850) in Lasongko Bay, Central Buton, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

“…Mann-Whitney test of carapace width and length of C. anisodon showed a significantly different (p<0.05) between males and females (Table 2). Body size (carapace width and length) of male was larger than females, and this is identical to those found in some other species of Charybdaris, such as C. feriatus (Dineshbabu 2011;Dash et al 2014), C. natator (Sumpton 1998; Sallam and Gab-Alla 2010; Vidhya 2016), C. bimaculata (Doi et al 2008), C. hellerii (Ozcan et al 2010;Sant'Anna et al 2012;Ferry et al 2017) and C. japonica (Fowler 2011;Wong 2013).…”

Relative growth, sexual maturity, and breeding season of three species of the genusPersephona(Decapoda: Brachyura: Leucosiidae): a comparative study

“…Throughout the growth of brachyuran crabs, certain body structures, particularly the chelipeds in males and the abdomen in females, have been used by various researchers in studies on morphological maturity due to their functions in reproduction (see Hartnoll, 1978Hartnoll, , 1982Hartnoll, , 1985Pinheiro & Fransozo, 1993;Fernández-Vergaz et al, 2000;Corgos & Freire, 2006;Bertini et al, 2007;Hirose & Negreiros-Fransozo, 2007;Doi et al, 2008;Mclay & Van den Brink, 2009;Rasheed & Mustaquim, 2010;Sal Moyano et al, 2011). In these studies, significant changes in the allometric growth rates are usually correlated with morphological changes in such body structures between immature and mature phases, which might occur gradually over a series of moults or abruptly at a single moult (Hartnoll, 1978(Hartnoll, , 1982(Hartnoll, , 1985.…”

“…Despite several studies on relative growth and reproductive traits of brachyuran crabs (see Pinheiro & Fransozo, 1993;Flores & Negreiros-Fransozo, 1998;Mantelatto & Fransozo, 1999a, b;Fernández-Vergaz et al, 2000;Corgos & Freire, 2006;Hartnoll et al, 2006;Bertini et al, 2007;Hirose & Negreiros-Fransozo, 2007;Doi et al, 2008;Cobo & Alves, 2009;Mclay & Van den Brink, 2009;Bertini et al, 2010;Sal Moyano et al, 2011), little is known about the biology of leucosiid species, including P. lichtensteinii, P. mediterranea, and P. punctata throughout their range of distribution. Negreiros-Fransozo et al (1989) described the early larval development of P. mediterranea; Bertini et al (2001Bertini et al ( , 2010 reported on the spatial and temporal distribution of Persephona spp.…”

Reproductive biology of Hepatus pudibundus (Crustacea: Brachyura), the most abundant crab on the southeastern Brazilian coast

“…Examples in Brazil include the reproductive cycle of Callinectes danae Smith, 1869 (Costa & Negreiros-Fransozo 1998), fertility and reproduction of Arenaeus cribrarius Lamarck, 1818 (Pinheiro & Terceiro 2000), sexual and functional maturity of Chaceon affinis (A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1894) (Fernándes-Vergaz et al 2000), growth and reproduction of Charybdis bimaculata (Miers, 1886) (Doi et al 2008), physiological maturity and the relationship of growth and reproduction of Goniopsis cruentata (Latreille, 1802) (Cobo & Fransozo 2005) and reproductive period and size at maturity of Persephona mediterranea (Herbst, 1794) (Bertini et al 2010b).…”