Sexual Maturation and Fertility in Blue Swimming Crab Portunus pelagicus in The Arabian Gulf, (Saudi Arabia)

research

Portunus pelagicus, the blue swimmer crab, occupy an important ecological and nutrimental in the world and one of the ten most important group of major economic mariculture and export species in the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea . The study, which is the first in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia, was conducted in the Coast of El-Khobar city overlooking the Arabian Gulf at the eastern region of Saudi Arabia for a year. It aimed to sexual maturity stages, fecundity and sex ratio, The blue crab in the Arabian Gulf is found to be a predator and scavenger at the same time. Sexual maturity for the males and females hold importance in the continuity of mating. The males reach sexual maturity (in terms of volume) less than females indicating that males mature prior to females. Ovigerous female fecundity is directly proportional to the size. Fecundity ranged between 157443 to 943947 eggs in females. The female: male ratio (1:0.87) deviates from the common marine crustacean ratio of 1:1.

  • January 2010

تعليقات

إرسال تعليق