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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2013

Ariádine Cristine Almeida ,
Célia Mary Hiyodo ,
Valter José Cobo ,
Giovana Bertini ,
Vivian Fransozo  and
Gustavo Monteiro Teixeira
Ariádine Cristine Almeida*
Affiliation:
NEBECC (Crustacean Biology, Ecology and Culture Study Group) Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Instituto de Biologia, Campus Umuarama, Rua Ceará, s/n, 38400-902, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil
Célia Mary Hiyodo
Affiliation:
NEBECC (Crustacean Biology, Ecology and Culture Study Group)
Valter José Cobo
Affiliation:
NEBECC (Crustacean Biology, Ecology and Culture Study Group) Universidade de Taubaté, Laboratório de Biologia Marinha, Instituto de Biociências, Avenida Tiradentes, 500, 12030-180, Taubaté, SP, Brazil
Giovana Bertini
Affiliation:
NEBECC (Crustacean Biology, Ecology and Culture Study Group) Universidade Estadual Paulista, Campus Experimental de Registro, Rua Nelson Brihi Badur, 430, 11900-000, Registro, SP, Brazil
Vivian Fransozo
Affiliation:
NEBECC (Crustacean Biology, Ecology and Culture Study Group) Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Baiano, BR 420, Km 2.5, 45320-000, Santa Inês, BA, Brazil
Gustavo Monteiro Teixeira
Affiliation:
NEBECC (Crustacean Biology, Ecology and Culture Study Group) Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Departamento de Biologia Animal e Vegetal, PR 445, Km 380, 86051-990, Londrina, PR, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: A.C. Almeida, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Instituto de Biologia, Campus Umuarama, Rua Ceará, s/n, 38400-902, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil email: ariadinealmeida@inbio.ufu.br
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Abstract

The relative growths of Persephona lichtensteinii, P. mediterranea, and P. punctata were investigated on the south-eastern Brazilian coast, focusing on differences in the growth rates between immature and mature phases, the onset of morphological sexual maturity, and the breeding seasons of these species. Crabs were collected every two months from January 1991 through to November 1992, from a shrimp fishing boat equipped with two otter-trawl nets. Significant differences in the patterns of body growth were observed between immature and mature phases of all three species. Changes in the growth rates of the chelipeds (males) and abdomen (females) observed for P. lichtensteinii, P. mediterranea, and P. punctata, seem to be related to the puberty moult for both sexes. Males of P. mediterranea and P. punctata reached larger mean sizes of carapace width than females, whereas no difference was recorded for P. lichtensteinii. The body size at which 50% of males attained sexual maturity was also larger in P. mediterranea and P. punctata, and smaller in P. lichtensteinii. The absence of a pronounced sexual dimorphism and the size at the onset of sexual maturity observed only for P. lichtensteinii might be explained by distinct reproductive strategies of males. The presence of ovigerous females during the entire sampling period suggests that all three species have a continuous reproduction pattern at the Ubatuba region. Future studies on the population structure, functional maturity, and mating system should improve the understanding of factors driving the biology and ecology of these species at a subtropical region.

Keywords

morphometrysexual dimorphismsexual maturityspawningsouth-eastern Brazilian coast
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 93 , Issue 6 , September 2013 , pp. 1581 - 1591
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2013 

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