Munidopsis sigsbei ( A. Milne-Edwards, 1880 )

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 : 410

Munidopsis sigsbei ( A. Milne-Edwards, 1880)

Munidopsis sigsbei has previously been reported as Galathodes sigsbei and Munidopsis sigsbeyi ( Baba et al. 2008) . Its reported distributional range is from the Gulf of Mexico to Brazil in depths of 659 to 1784 m (Milne- Edwards 1880; Chace 1942; Pequegnat & Pequegnat 1970; Tavares & Campinho 1998). Specimens used in this analysis were in the published distributional range in depths of 500 to 2000 m and were collected in every month ( Fig. 13 G). One hundred fifty-nine males (CW from 2.5 to 13.1 mm), 68 non-ovigerous females (CW from 3.8 to 12.0 mm), and 83 ovigerous females (CW from 6.3 to 13.3 mm) were measured. Males and females were not significantly different in size (t-test, df = 308, t = -1.804, p = 0.072); ovigerous females were significantly larger than non-ovigerous females (t-test, df = 149, t = -4.061, p<0.001). Ovigerous females were observed in February and May through November. Females had between one and 50 eggs, and average egg diameters ranged between 1.14 mm and 2.09 mm. Fecundity was correlated with CW for M. sigsbei (R2 = 0.287, p <0.001) ( Fig. 14 A), but average egg size was not correlated with CW (R2 = 0.002, p = 0.702).

Figures

FIGURE 13. Number of specimens of each species collected for each month. Gray bars are males, white bars are females, and black bars are ovigerous females.

FIGURE 14. Linear regression of carapace width and the number of eggs for Munidopsis sigsbei (A. Milne-Edwards, 1880). Black dashed lines are the 95 % confidence interval. Dotted lines are 95 % prediction intervals.