Reproductive biology of galatheoid and chirostyloid (Crustacea: Decapoda) squat lobsters from the Gulf of Mexico
Author
Kilgour, Morgan J.
Author
Shirley, Thomas C.
text
Zootaxa
2014
3754
4
381
419
journal article
46649
10.11646/zootaxa.3754.4.3
96aabdb2-1be6-484b-a6aa-34d046a24d01
1175-5326
229435
D6C44F9E-6EF7-411B-8C49-132AA77AB1A5
Galathea rostrata
A. Milne-Edwards, 1880
Galathea rostrata
has been reported throughout the Caribbean and Gulf of
Mexico
to North Carolina in depths of
22 to 92 m
(
Milne-Edwards 1880
;
Milne-Edwards & Bouvier 1897
;
Haig 1956
;
Baba
et al.
2008
). The specimens used in this analysis were from the Gulf of
Mexico
and off the coast of Florida in depths of
30 to 100 m
(
Fig. 5
). Specimens were collected in every month except December (
Fig. 6
). A total of
274 specimens
was in collections with
145 males
, 65 ovigerous females, and 64 non-ovigerous females; only
104 males
, 42 ovigerous, and 41 non-ovigerous females were measured. Male carapace width ranged from
1.3 to 5.8 mm
. Non-ovigerous female CW ranged from
1.3 to 4.8 mm
. Ovigerous female CW ranged from
1.9 to 5.4 mm
. The average egg diameter for each female ranged from
0.22 to 0.48 mm
, and the number of eggs ranged from one to 204. Males and females did not vary significantly in size (t-test, df
=
185, t
=
0.825, p
=
0.411), but ovigerous females were larger than non-ovigerous females (t-test, df
=
81, t
=
-2.382, p
=
0.020). Fecundity was not significantly correlated with the size of the ovigerous females (R2
=
0.264, p
=
0.082) nor was the average egg diameter correlated with size (R2
=
0.130, p
=
0.092).