Maturidade sexual e relações morfométricas do caranguejo Goniopsis cruentata (Latreille, 1803) Crustacea: Brachyura: Grapsidae) do estuário do Rio Jaguaribe (Aracati - Ceará) / Sexual maturity and relationships morphometric crab Goniopsis cruentata (Latreille, 1803) Crustacea: Brachyura: Grapsidae) from the estuary of the River Jaguaribe (Aracati - Ceará)

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2008

RESUMO

The species Goniopsis cruentata has an important commercial value in Northeast Brazil. The objective of the present study was to determine the size in which this species reaches sexual maturity and, through the analysis of relative growth, to establish relationships between the structures related to secondary sexual characteristics and the stages of reproductive development. The patterns of sexual dimorphism of the species were also analyzed. The samples were obtained in the Jaguaribes river estuary (Aracati-Ce) during the period from October/2006 to September/2007. The animals were measured and dissected for the removal of fragments of the ovaries in the females and of the vas deferens in the males that were submitted to routine histological examinations. Two stages of reproductive development were adopted (immature and mature) for both sexes. For the morphometric analysis of the individuals, it was studied the relative growth in different stages of reproductive development for both sexes. The growth proportions obtained were tested statistically. Based on the gonadal analysis, it was observed that the cw size (carapace width) in which 50% of the males and females were mature, was of 26,40 mm and 27,48 mm, respectively. The growth analysis indicates that this species presents sexual dimorphism evidenced through differences, between males and females in the proportions of growth of the abdomen and of the chelipeds. The comparison between the relative growth of immature and mature individuals allowed the registration of differences in the growth proportion after the beginning of the sexual maturity. These differences were verified in the growth of the abdomen in the females and of the chelipeds in the males, and it was possible to characterize these differences as secondary sexual characteristics. These results indicate that there is a relationship between the process of sexual maturation and the modifications in the growing proportions of structures related to secondary sexual characteristics, agreeing with a pattern observed for other Brachyura.

ASSUNTO(S)

ecologia

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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