Egg development and fecundity estimation in deep-sea red ... - redmic

376 V.M. Tuset et al. / Fisheries Research 109 (2011) 373–378
Fig. 4. Phases of egg development. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of the article.)
while in C. quinquedens they are red-orange, then brown, purple,
and finally black (Wigley et al., 1975; Haefner, 1978; Erdman and
Blake, 1988).
Crabs of genus Chaceon inhabit deep waters and seem to have
continuous reproduction along year (Elner et al., 1987; Erdman and
Blake, 1988; Steimle et al., 2001; Pinho et al., 2001; Smith et al.,
2004). Berried females migrate to shallower and warmer waters
enhancing eggs that are swept up surface by the current (Haefner,
Table 1
Morphological values (mean ± standard deviation) of stages of egg development.
1978). The larvae phase is pelagic and consists in four zoeal stages
and a final megalopa. In the first postmegalop instar stage the carapace
width is relatively large, which may be an adaptation to slow
post-settlement growth (see Steimle et al., 2001). The eggs are the
largest known for crabs with planktonic development: 600 m in
maximum diameter in C. fenneri (Erdman and Blake, 1988; Hines,
1988; Erdman et al., 1991) and C. bicolour (Smith et al., 2004),
680 m D in C. maritae (Melville-Smith, 1987), 789 m D in C.
Stage n Maximum diameter (D, mm) Minimum diameter (d, mm) Area (A, mm 2 ) Roundness Ratio aspect
I 302 0.585 ± 0.031 0.551 ± 0.029 0.254 ± 0.026 1.075 ± 0.007 1.097 ± 0.031
II 2042 0.582 ± 0.039 0.541 ± 0.043 0.251 ± 0.034 1.124 ± 0.081 1.157 ± 0.062
III 616 0.580 ± 0.043 0.551 ± 0.045 0.257 ± 0.038 1.078 ± 0.009 1.115 ± 0.039
IV 326 0.590 ± 0.047 0.558 ± 0.048 0.262 ± 0.042 1.077 ± 0.008 1.126 ± 0.043
V 533 0.601 ± 0.033 0.566 ± 0.035 0.272 ± 0.030 1.081 ± 0.009 1.131 ± 0.050
VI 334 0.655 ± 0.038 0.627 ± 0.036 0.328 ± 0.036 1.083 ± 0.008 1.109 ± 0.040