Relative growth and morphological sexual maturity in four ghost shrimp species (Decapoda, Axiidea)
da Silva, W.G.; Shinozaki-Mendes, R.A.; Marinho, N.C.M.; Costa, L.B.; Matoso, M.A.L.; Botter-Carvalho, M.L. (2025). Relative growth and morphological sexual maturity in four ghost shrimp species (Decapoda, Axiidea). Mar. Ecol. (Berl.) 46(6): e70068. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/maec.70068
In: Marine Ecology (Berlin). Blackwell: Berlin. ISSN 0173-9565; e-ISSN 1439-0485, more
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| Keywords |
Allometry
Biogeny > Ontogeny
Morphology
Callianassidae Dana, 1852 [WoRMS]; Callichiridae Manning & Felder, 1991 [WoRMS]; Crustacea [WoRMS]
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| Authors | | Top |
- da Silva, W.G.
- Shinozaki-Mendes, R.A.
- Marinho, N.C.M.
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- Costa, L.B.
- Matoso, M.A.L.
- Botter-Carvalho, M.L.
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| Abstract |
This study presents a comparative analysis of relative growth and morphological maturity in four species of ghost shrimps (Decapoda: Axiidea) from the tropical coast of Pernambuco, Brazil: Lepidophthalmus siriboia, Neocallichirus maryae, Fragillianassa fragilis and Callichirus corruptus. A total of 4696 individuals were sampled across four beaches. The relative growth was analysed based on certain morphometric relationships between independent (cephalothorax length, CL; dorsal oval, DO) and dependent variables (total length, TL; propodus length of the major cheliped, PL; propodus height, PH; propodus width, PW). Relative growth was evaluated separately for juveniles and adults of both sexes, using allometric modelling. In general, males and females reached adulthood at similar sizes, although females tended to be slightly smaller than males. At the two sampling sites where populations of C. corruptus were analysed, sizes at maturity were 5.31 and 6.53 mm DO for males and 4.82 and 7.0 mm DO for females. In L. siriboia, N. maryae and F. fragilis, sizes at maturity for males and females were 6.33 and 6.0 mm CL, 9.36 and 9.37 mm CL and 3.13 and 2.9 mm CL, respectively. Although females were significantly larger in overall body size (TL), they possessed smaller chelipeds. Cheliped growth (PL) was more pronounced during the juvenile stage in females, whereas in males, growth was evident in both juvenile and adult stages. Body growth of males increased more slowly during adulthood in L. siriboia, N. maryae and F. fragilis, while females showed the opposite trend. These variations in growth patterns and reproductive traits likely reflect environmental adaptations and biological trade-offs that enhance fitness within each species' ecological niche. These findings highlight the importance of comparative morphometric approaches in assessing population structure and ecological responses. |
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