Munida pusilla Benedict, 1902

Kilgour, Morgan J. & Shirley, Thomas C., 2014, Reproductive biology of galatheoid and chirostyloid (Crustacea: Decapoda) squat lobsters from the Gulf of Mexico, Zootaxa 3754 (4), pp. 381-419 : 397

Munida pusilla Benedict, 1902

Munida pusilla has been reported from Brazil to the Gulf of Mexico in depths of 7 to 168 m ( Benedict 1902; Markham et al. 1990; de Melo-Filho 2006). This species is easily confused with M. angulata ( Baba et al. 2008) and such may be the case with some of these specimens. We used specimens collected in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean in depths of 12 to 200 m. Specimens were collected in all months; ovigerous specimens were not collected in December ( Fig. 9 E). One hundred eighty-six males (CW from 1.6 to 8.5 mm), 64 non-ovigerous females (CW from 2.0 to 8.3 mm), and 86 females were measured (CW from 2.1 to 7.4 mm); males and females were not significantly different in CW (t-test, df = 336, t = 0.0455, p = 0.964) nor did ovigerous females and nonovigerous females differ in size (t-test, df = 148, t = -0.893, p = 0.373). Females had between four and 772 eggs with average egg diameters range of 0.19 to 0.55 mm. Fecundity was significantly correlated with CW (R2 = 0.513, p <0.001) ( Fig. 4 F), and the average egg diameter was correlated with the CW (R2 = 0.183, p value<0.001).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Linear regression of carapace width and the number of eggs for Gastroptychus spinifer (A. Milne-Edwards, 1880) (A), Eumunida picta Smith, 1883 (B), Munida flinti Benedict, 1902 (C), Munida forceps A. Milne-Edwards, 1880 (D), Munida miles A. Milne-Edwards, 1880 (E), and Munida pusilla Benedict, 1902 (F). Black dashed lines are the 95 % confidence interval. Dotted lines are 95 % prediction intervals.

FIGURE 9. Number of specimens of each species collected for each month. Gray bars are males, white bars are females, and black bars are ovigerous females.