Abstract
During the ontogenetic development of crustaceans, the relative growth of some structures may change, especially during the transition from juvenile to adult. This study describes the relative growth of body structures of Macrobrachium iheringi, and provides information on its population dynamics, such as structure, fecundity, and morphological sexual maturity. The sampling of M. iheringi was carried out in “Ribeirão da Hortelã”, in Botucatu (SP, Brazil). The length of the carapace (CL), abdomen (AL), and ischium (IL), merus (ML), carpus (CrL), propodus (PpL), and dactyl (DcL) of the second right pereopod were measured. In addition, the width of the second abdominal pleura (PW) and propodus height (PpH) were included in analyses. The relationships that best demonstrated the changes in the allometric coefficient were CL vs PpL in males and females. The CL, in which males and females reach morphological sexual maturity, was estimated as 13.3 mm and 11.1 mm, respectively. The sex-ratio differed from the expected 1:1 and was skewed towards females. Precipitation and temperature influenced the abundance of different demographic classes. Macrobrachium iheringi has few but large eggs, which is expected since this species has an abbreviated larval development. Based on these results, we conclude that the propodus are good indicators of the size at onset of morphological sexual maturity. In addition, important information was obtained on the biology of M. iheringi, including its life cycle pattern, reproduction and influence of abiotic factors.
Highlights
In Brazil, currently, 35 species of freshwater prawns are known, belonging to three families: Atyidae, Euryrhynchidae and Palaemonidae (Magalhães et al, 2016)
M. iheringi (Ortmann, 1897) is an endemic Brazilian prawn found in cold continental waters (Fransozo et al, 2004) in the states of Goiás, Espirito Santo, São
The present study describes the relative growth and population dynamics of M. iheringi by identifying the structures that best represent the transition between the juvenile and adult phases and determining the size at the onset of morphological sexual maturity
Summary
In Brazil, currently, 35 species of freshwater prawns are known, belonging to three families: Atyidae, Euryrhynchidae and Palaemonidae (Magalhães et al, 2016). Among the Palaemonidae, 19 species of Macrobrachium Spence Bate, 1868 are known, which, besides being the most abundant genus (Mantelatto et al, 2016), is of great commercial interest. The biological aspects of only a few species are known, especially the ones of economic importance (Mantelatto et al, 2016). Among these species, M. iheringi (Ortmann, 1897) is an endemic Brazilian prawn found in cold continental waters (Fransozo et al, 2004) in the states of Goiás, Espirito Santo, São. Previous studies addressed the geographical distribution (Coelho & Ramos-Porto, 1984; Gomes-Correa, 1977), behavior (Volpato & Hoshino, 1984), ecophysiology (Favaretto, 1973), reproductive period (Fransozo et al, 2004), growth and longevity (Lobão et al, 1986), and larval development (Bueno & Rodrigues, 1995) of M. iheringi
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