Abstract
The southwestern Gulf of California is an important source of ornamental marine species traded worldwide, wherein spider crabs Stenorhynchus debilis are popular items. However, little is known about species biology and ecology. This study involves young ovigerous females (28 in total) recollected at Bahía de La Paz, Mexico, into bivalve mariculture devices cleaned every 3-4 months. Total carapace length (TL) and carapace width (CW), weight without eggs (TW), and fecundity (F, number of eggs) were analyzed for multiple relationships. F varied into 162 and 2205 eggs (x̄ = 1171 ± 689 eggs), their diameter into 0.38 to 0.45 mm (x̄ = 0.396 ± 0.027 mm). Three persistent and interactive modes were detected: low/moderate/high F, small/medium/large size (TL and CW), and light/middle/heavy TW. Log-linearized allometric regressions were applied to determine the relative fecundity constants (RFC) by body complexion, finding high parallelism between TL and CW related to step-wise growth and size categorization upon the isosceles-shaped carapace. In contrast, TW denoted an increase in body complexion across intermolt phases. S. debilis likely completes three maturation/molt cycles within 3-4 months after the first crab instar. RFC values confirmed positive trends by body complexion where egg size and F are related to species size and shape, establishing the trade-off proportions in this study case.
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