Variability in fecundity of the brown crab, Callinectes bellicosus Stimpson, 1859 (Brachyura, Portunidae), along the coast of Sonora

Abstract

Abstract This work analyses how the fecundity of the brown swimming crab, Callinectes bellicosus, varies along the coast of Sonora in the Gulf of California. Ripe female crabs were collected during May 2015 in four zones, and fecundity was determined and compared with carapace width (CW), total body weight (TW) and egg mass weight (MW). TW ranged between 100.5 g and 209.8 g (average = 158.2 g, coefficient of variation (CV) = 23.4%); CW ranged from 97.9 mm to 123.6 mm (average = 113.4 mm, CV = 8.3%); MW varied from 16.4 g to 34.1 g (average = 25.3 g, CV = 20.4%). The total fecundity (number of eggs per female) of C. bellicosus varied from 1 769 195 to 3 739 254 (average = 2 730 217, CV = 22.2%); partial fecundity (number of eggs per g of egg mass) ranged from 100 422 to 117 130 (average = 107 721, CV = 5.1%). A general north-south decrease in fecundity was observed, although the least fecund females were found in central Sonora (Kino Bay). The most significant linear correlation was found between total fecundity vs. egg mass weight. Total fecundity was better explained by a Von Bertalanffy model, with a maximum average fecundity of 3.7 million eggs for a female of 230 g total weight.