Munidopsis riveroi Chace, 1939

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 : 409

Munidopsis riveroi Chace, 1939

Munidopsis riveroi has been reported from the Gulf of Mexico to Colombia in depths of 260 to 683 m ( Chace 1942; Campos et al. 2005). Specimens used in this analysis were from the Caribbean in depths of 335 to 3822 m. Specimens were collected in March, May, July, October, and December; ovigerous specimens were collected from all of these months ( Fig. 13 E). Twenty five males, four non-ovigerous females, and 32 ovigerous females were measured. Male CW ranged from 5.2 to 11.3 mm. Non-ovigerous female CW ranged from 8.0 to 12.0 mm. Ovigerous female CW ranged from 8.9 to 14.8 mm. Males were significantly smaller than females (t-test, df = 56, t = -5.701, p<0.001); but ovigerous and non-ovigerous females were not significantly different in size (t-test, df = 31, t = 1.747, p = 0.091). Females had between 21 and 176 eggs and the average egg diameter for each female ranged from 0.98 to 1.34 mm. Fecundity was correlated with CW for M. riveroi (R2 = 0.191, p = 0.042) ( Fig. 10 E) as was average egg size (R2 = 0.07, p<0.001), but size was not a good predictor for either variable.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Linear regression of carapace width and the number of eggs for Munida valida Smith, 1883 (A), Galacantha spinosa A. Milne-Edwards, 1880 (B), Munidopsis erinacea (A. Milne-Edwards, 1880) (C), Munidopsis longimanus (A. Milne- Edwards, 1880) (D), Munidopsis riveroi Chace, 1939 (E) and Munidopsis robusta (A. Milne-Edwards, 1880) (F). Black dashed lines are the 95 % confidence interval. Dotted lines are 95 % prediction intervals.

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.