Notes on the biology and growth ofMunida intermedia(Anomura: Galatheidae) in the western Pomo pit (Adriatic Sea)

Abstract

The squat-lobster Munida intermedia is very common over the muddy bottoms (depth 200-256 m) of the western Pomo pit (Central Adriatic). Density estimates, obtained from a short underwater television survey, ranged from 0.2 to 0.6 individuals/m 2. Scientific trawling carried out in the years 1993-1994 with a small mesh net, yielded large catches of M. intermedia, and made possible the study of some aspects of its life history. M. intermedia is a gonochoric species that spawns once per year. Adult females have ripe ovaries in autumn and become ovigerous in winter. No ovigerous female was found after February. The smallest ovigerous female measured 8.5 mm carapace length, and the largest 23 mm. Fecundity is related to size and ranges between 870 and 5300 new-laid eggs per female. The reproductive season is well defined (from October to February), with a single spawning per year. Therefore, modal components in the length frequency distributions were identified with year classes and the mean lengths at age obtained were used to compute the parameters of the growth equation separately for the two sexes. The average life-span of M. intermedia probably does not exceed four years and males reach a slightly larger size than females (maximum carapace length: 25 mm males, 23 mm females). Sexual maturity in both sexes is reached at the end of the first year of life. A high percentage of specimens (males 9%, females 22%) had external evidence of infestation by Rhizocephala and representatives of three genera were recorded. Specimens as small as 7.5 mm carapace length were found parasitized and the highest frequencies of parasites were observed in the size range 10-14 mm.

Survival of decapod crustaceans discarded in the Nephrops fishery of the Clyde Sea area, Scotland

“…However, little is known about the fate of this important component of the catch. Swimming crabs (Liocarcinus depurator) and squat lobsters (Munida rugosa) are the most abundant decapod species discarded in the Clyde Sea area, concurring with findings from the Adriatic Sea (inter alia: Gramitto and Froglia, 1998;Wieczorek et al, 1999).…”

Reproductive biology of galatheoid and chirostyloid (Crustacea: Decapoda) squat lobsters from the Gulf of Mexico

“…Ovigerous females of the genus Munida have been collected in most months (Wenner 1982;Palma & Arana 1997;Gramitto & Froglia 1998;Tapella et al 2002;Company et al 2003). Munidopsis spp.…”

Annual growth and age composition of the squat lobster <i>Cervimunida johni</i> off northern-central Chile (1996-97)

“…Despite their exoskeleton and the discontinuities in the growth process (Cobb and Caddy, 1989;Dall et al, 1990), continuous asymptotic models are considered a common result for decapod crustaceans (Campbell, 1983;Fogarty and Idoine, 1988;Roa, 1993;Roa and Ernst, 1996;Ragonese et al, 1994;Biachini, 1996, Gramitto andFroglia, 1998). Male C. johni grow larger than females in size at age.…”