Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-12T19:43:03.727Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Morphological maturity and allometric growth in the squat lobster Munida rugosa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2009

Thomas Claverie*
Affiliation:
University Marine Biological Station Millport, Isle of Cumbrae, KA28 0EG, Scotland, United Kingdom
I. Philip Smith
Affiliation:
University Marine Biological Station Millport, Isle of Cumbrae, KA28 0EG, Scotland, United Kingdom
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: T. Claverie, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA email: [email protected]

Abstract

Size at the onset of sexual maturity was determined in Munida rugosa based on allometric growth of chelipeds and abdomen, and on the proportion of ovigerous females. The variability of three different measurements of carapace length (CL) used previously for M. rugosa was also evaluated to minimize measurement error. Both sexes had symmetrical cheliped length and allometric cheliped growth over the size-range investigated, but males showed increased allometry beyond 22 mm CL. Females had greater positive allometry in abdomen width than males, but their size at maturity could not be precisely determined because sampled females were too large.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Berrill, M. and Arsenault, M. (1982) Mating behaviour of the green shore crab, Carcinus maenas. Bulletin of Marine Science 32, 632638.Google Scholar
Claverie, T. and Smith, I.P. (2007) Functional significance of an unusual chela dimorphism in a marine decapod: specialization as a weapon? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences 274, 30333038.Google Scholar
Clayton, D.A. (1990) Crustacean allometric growth: a case for caution. Crustaceana 58, 270290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Combes, J.C.H. (2002) Aspects of the biology and fisheries ecology of the velvet swimming crab, Necora puber (L.), and the squat lobsters Munida rugosa (Fabricius) and M. sarsi Huus (Crustacea: Decapoda) in Scottish waters. PhD thesis. University of London, London, UK.Google Scholar
Correa, C., Baeza, J.A., Hinojosa, I.A. and Thiel, M. (2003) Male dominance hierarchy and mating tactics in the rock shrimp Rhynchocinetes typus (Decapoda: Caridea). Journal of Crustacean Biology 23, 3345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davenport, J., Spikes, M., Thornton, S.M. and Kelly, B.O. (1992) Crab-eating in the diamondback terrapin Malaclemys terrapin: dealing with dangerous prey. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 72, 835848.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Debuse, V.J., Addison, J.T. and Reynolds, J.D. (2001) Morphometric variability in UK populations of the European lobster. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 81, 469474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farmer, A.S. (1974) Relative growth in Nephrops norvegicus (L.) (Decapoda: Nephropidae). Journal of Natural History 8, 605620.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, N.G., Smith, K.D., de Lestang, S. and Potter, I.C. (2006) Does the largest chela of the males of three crab species undergo an allometric change that can be used to determine morphometric maturity? ICES Journal of Marine Science 63, 140150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartnoll, R.G. (1974) Variation in growth pattern between some secondary sexual characters in crabs (Decapoda, Brachyura). Crustaceana 27, 131136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartnoll, R.G. (1982) Growth. In Bliss, D.E. and Abele, L.G. (eds) The biology of Crustacea. Volume 2. Embryology, morphology, and genetics. New York: Academic Press, pp. 111196.Google Scholar
Hartnoll, R.G., Rice, A.L. and Attrill, M.J. (1992) Aspects of the biology of the galatheid genus Munida (Crustacea, Decapoda) from the Porcupine Seabight, Northeast Atlantic. Sarsia 76, 231246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard, F.G. (1981) Squat lobters. Scottish Fisheries Bulletin 46, 1316.Google Scholar
Ingrand, M. (1937) Morphologie des pinces et caractères sexuels secondaires de Munida bamffica. Travaux de la Station Biologique de Roscoff 15, 5786.Google Scholar
Karnofsky, E.B., Atema, J. and Elgin, R.H. (1989) Field observations of social behavior, shelter use, and foraging in the lobster, Homarus americanus. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole 176, 239246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, S.Y. (1995) Cheliped size and structure: the evolution of a multifunctional decapod organ. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 193, 161176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lizarraga-Cubedo, H.A., Tuck, I., Bailey, N., Pierce, G.J. and Kinnear, J.A.M. (2003) Comparisons of size at maturity and fecundity of two Scottish populations of the European lobster, Homarus gammarus. Fisheries Research 65, 137152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovett, D.L. and Felder, D.L. (1989) Application of regression techniques to studies of relative growth in crustaceans. Journal of Crustacean Biology 9, 529539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McQuaid, N., Briggs, R.P. and Roberts, D. (2006) Estimation of the size of onset of sexual maturity in Nephrops norvegicus (L.). Fisheries Research 81, 2636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, D.C. (1973) Growth in Uca pugilator (Bosc) (Decapoda, Ocypodidae). Crustaceana 24, 119131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nijhout, H.F. and Emlen, D.J. (1998) Competition among body parts in the development and evolution of insect morphology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 95, 36853689.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pothanikat, R.M.E. (2005) The behaviour and ecology of Munida rugosa and Munida sarsi. PhD thesis. Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.Google Scholar
R Development Core Team (2006) R: A language and environment for statistical computing, Version 2.6.2. Vienna, Austria: R Fundation for Statistical Computing. Available from: http://www.r-project.org (accessed 17 September 2008).Google Scholar
Sheehy, M.R.J. (1990) Potential of morphological lipofuscin age-pigment as an index of crustacean age. Marine Biology 107, 439442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, I.P., Huntingford, F.A., Atkinson, R.J.A. and Taylor, A.C. (1994a) Mate competition in the velvet swimming crab Necora puber: effects of perceived resource value on male agonistic behaviour. Marine Biology 120, 579585.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, I.P., Huntingford, F.A., Atkinson, R.J.A. and Taylor, A.C. (1994b) Strategic decisions during agonistic behaviour in the velvet swimming crab, Necora puber (L.). Animal Behaviour 47, 885894.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sneddon, L.U., Huntingford, F.A. and Taylor, A.C. (1997) Weapon size versus body size as a predictor of winning in fights between shore crabs, Carcinus maenas (L.). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 41, 237242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sokal, R.R. and Rohlf, F.J. (2001) Biometry, the principles and practice of statistics in biological research. 3rd edition.New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.Google Scholar
Somerton, D.A. (1980) A computer technique for estimating the size of sexual maturity in crabs. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 37, 14881494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stearns, S.C. (1992) The evolution of life histories. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Trenkel, V.M., Le Loc'h, F. and Rochet, M.J. (2007) Small-scale spatial and temporal interactions among benthic crustaceans and one fish species in the Bay of Biscay. Marine Biology 151, 22072215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuck, I.D., Atkinson, R.J.A. and Chapman, C.J. (2000) Population biology of the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus (L.) in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland—II: fecundity and size at onset of sexual maturity. ICES Journal of Marine Science 57, 12271239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zainal, K.A.Y. (1990) Aspects of the biology of the squat lobster, Munida rugosa (Fabricius, 1775). PhD thesis. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.Google Scholar
Zar, J.H. (1999) Biostatistical analysis. 4th edition.New Jersey: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar