Bioecology of the fiddler crab Uca uruguayensis and the burrowing crab Chasmagnathus granulatus (Decapoda, Brachyura) in the Refugio de Vida Silvestre Bahía Samborombón, Argentina

Author： César Inés Armendáriz Laura Becerra Romina

Publisher： Springer Publishing Company

ISSN： 0018-8158

Source： Hydrobiologia, Vol.545, Iss.1, 2005-08, pp. : 237-248

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Abstract

The aim of the present work conducted at the Refugio de Vida Silvestre Bahía Samborombón, Argentina, is to analyse the most relevant aspects of the life cycles of Chasmagnathus granulatus and Uca uruguayensis: their abundance, size distribution and sex ratio in order to be used for make management purposes. A total of 1200 individuals of U. uruguayensis (megalopae, juveniles and adults) and 957 individuals of C. granulatus (juveniles and adults) were collected from March 2001 to February 2003. U.␣uruguayensis had a maximun density of 42 ind./m²in February 2003, while the maximun density of C.␣granulatus was 52 ind./m²in June 2001. Minimun density was zero individual for both species in July 2002. Each environmental factor sampled (temperature of water, salinity and pH) was correlated with the abundance of each species by Pearson’s linear correlation analysis. Sex ratio did not significantly differ from the expected Mendelian ratio, except for U. uruguayensis in December 2002 (male-biassed) and C.␣granulatus in June and December 2001, April 2002 and February 2003 (female-biassed). Ovigerous females of U. uruguayensis and C. granulatus were found during the summer.