The distribution and biology of the swimming crab Charybdis smithii McLeay,1838 (Crustacea; Brachyura; Portunidae) in the NW Indian Ocean

Couwelaar, Matthijs van; Angel, Martin V.; Madin, Laurence P.

doi:10.1016/s0967-0645(97)00017-9

Cited by 26 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Low value for the diet breadth index (Levin's Standardised index, B i ) for yellowfin tuna in our study (0.106) indicated that, although this species consumed a wide variety of prey items, maximum contribution to the diet was by few prey items including oceanic squids, swimming crabs and teleosts (bigeye cigarfish and flying fishes), which are available in high density in the Arabian Sea (Trotsenko and Pinchukov, 1994;Couwelaar et al, 1997;Chesalin and Zuyev, 2002;Potier et al, 2008;Romanov et al, 2009), that could restrict yellowfin's feeding to most frequently available prey items in this area. Yellowfin tuna of Arabian Sea may be feeding mainly on these prey species, leading to low value for diet breadth index and hence showing an opportunistic feeding strategy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…Since yellowfin tuna are voracious feeders and are generally non-selective, occurrence of a particular prey species in large quantity in their stomach contents could be due to the availability of such prey species in abundance during a particular season. Swimming crabs occur in great densities in the pelagic waters of the Arabian Sea during July -January (Couwelaar et al, 1997).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Feeding ecology and consumption rates of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the eastern Arabian Sea

Varghese

Somvanshi²

2016

Indian Journal of Fisheries

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Diet composition, predator-prey relationships and consumption rates of yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares in the western Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (eastern Arabian Sea) were studied by stomach content analysis. Stomachs of 406 specimens in the fork length range of 48 to 165.5 cm caught during exploratory longlining conducted in the eastern Arabian Sea during 2006 to 2009 were examined, of which, 15.52% were empty. Purple back flying squid (Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis) was the dominant prey species, followed by the swimming crab (Charybdis smithii), bigeye cigarfish (Cubiceps pauciradiatus) and flyingfishes (family Exocoetidae). Diet breadth index and the modified Costello diagram showed dominance of few prey species which are available in high densities in the Arabian Sea, indicating opportunistic feeding nature of this apex predator. Diet did not significantly differ between sexes and size groups. Higher food intake during premonsoon and winter monsoon indicated a seasonal variation in diet. A steady increase in the abundance of C. smithii and a decrease in the proportion of S. oualaniensis in the diet were observed from premonsoon to winter monsoon seasons. Yellowfin tuna in the Arabian Sea consume an average of 545.65 g of food in a day and require daily ration of 1.95% body weight per day.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding ecology and consumption rates of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the eastern Arabian Sea

Varghese

Somvanshi²

2016

Indian Journal of Fisheries

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“…An exception is Chabrydis smithii McLeay, 1838, whose lifespan was estimated to be one year (van Couwelaar et al, 1997). The population of C. bimaculata examined in this study seems to be composed of only one cohort because the size frequency distribution was unimodal for all months excepting October, when one individual visibly smaller than the rest and likely to be a new recruit was collected.…”

Section: Lifespanmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Another interesting fact was that we could not distinguish multiple cohorts in spite of the fact that C. bimaculata in Tokyo Bay had a protracted reproductive season (see below). In general, recruits from a long reproductive season form several cohorts identifiable in size frequency distributions (van Couwelaar et al, 1997;Ariyama, 1993). The lack of such cohorts in C. bimaculata may be related to the fact that spawning females in seasons other than summer, e.g., spring and autumn, are relatively few and that their offspring probably do not make significant contribution to recruitment.…”

Section: Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Doi

Yokota²,

Strüssmann

et al. 2008

Journal of Crustacean Biology

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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.

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“…Distribution and circulation of particular water masses may, however, have more relevance to the explanation of their distributiona l ranges ( Tu È rkay, 1996). There are, unfortunately , very few studies which consider the distribution of particular benthic species with a pelagic phase in their life cycle in relation to oceanograph y at the scale of the entire western Indian Ocean (Zamorov et al, 1991;Couwelaar et al, 1997). Although this question requires further investigatio n on much more extensive material than is available at present, some oceanographi c phenomena which apparently in¯uence the distribution of deep sea crustaceans with pelagic larval stages in the north-western Indian Ocean may be pointed out here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deep sea swimming crabs of theCharybdis milesspecies group in the western Indian Ocean (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae)

Спиридонов

Türkay

2001

Journal of Natural History

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The deep-sea species of the Charybdis miles group occurring in the western Indian Ocean are revised on the basis of recent collections obtained by German and Russian expeditions. Two new species are described, Charybdis meteor sp. n. from the Straits of Bab el Mandeb and Charybdis crosnieri sp. n. from the insular margins and seamounts of the western Indian Ocean, which has been previously identi® ed as Charybdis sagamiensis Parisi, 1916. The C. miles group represents a lineage with a probably relatively recent tendency for submergence which culminated in the formation of C. acutidens Tu È rkay, 1986, a characteristic species of the deep Red Sea water mass.

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The distribution and biology of the swimming crab Charybdis smithii McLeay,1838 (Crustacea; Brachyura; Portunidae) in the NW Indian Ocean

Cited by 26 publications

References 14 publications

Feeding ecology and consumption rates of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the eastern Arabian Sea

Feeding ecology and consumption rates of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the eastern Arabian Sea

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

Deep sea swimming crabs of theCharybdis milesspecies group in the western Indian Ocean (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae)

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