INVESTIGADORES
GONZALEZ PISANI Ximena
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
SIZE AT MORPHOLOGICAL SEXUAL MATURITY OF THE ?SPIDER CRAB? LIBINIA SPINOSA (BRACHYURA) IN PATAGONIAN GULFS
Autor/es:
GONZÁLEZ PISANI XIMENA; BARON PEDRO JOSÉ; LOPÉZ GRECO LAURA
Lugar:
Buenos Aires
Reunión:
Jornada; X Jornadas Anuales de la Sociedad Argentina de Biología; 2008
Institución organizadora:
Sociedad Argentina de Biología
Resumen:
In the Brachyuran crabs, the size of the chelipeds is relevant for male
mating success and the width of the pleon to maximize the egg carring
capacity of the females during incubation. The detection of
discontinuities in some morphometric relationships associated to these
structures allows to establish the size of morphologic maturity, generally
related to the puberty molt. With the aim of determining the
size of morphological maturity in Libinia spinosa, 385 individuals
(206 females and 179 males) of different sizes were captured in the
northern Patagonian gulfs (41-43ºS) by trapping and SCUBA diving
at depths between 5 and 40 m. Width of carapace (CW) and different
dimensions of the chelipeds and pleon were measured. In females,
discontinuities were detected in the relationship pleon width (PW)
and the CW, both morphologically immature and mature individuals
being present in the range of 41.3-50.9 mm CW. The smallest ovigerous
female had a CW of 41.3mm. For males, a breakpoint was detected
in the relationship of cheliped length (CL) and CW at 37 mm
CW (size rangel of 32-43mm) AC. The size at morphologic maturity
of females was similar to that found in Leurocyclus tuberculosus
(40.33 mm CW), another Majoidea associated to the captures of L.
spinosa, and the size obtained for the males was lower than the size
registered for that species (55 mm CW).