An investigation on some biological and reproduction characteristics of Eriphia verrucosa (Forskal, 1775) in the South Black Sea (Turkey)

Abstract

In this study, a total of 1360 specimens of Eriphia verrucosa were collected from the South Black Sea region of Turkey between February 2012 and January 2013 to determine their biological and reproductive characteristics. The overall sex ratio of all individuals was calculated as 1:0.42 (M/F). The mean carapace width was determined as 6.76, 5.57, and 5.62 cm for males, nonovigerous, and ovigerous females, respectively. The minimum and maximum weight was recorded as 4.07 and 301.4 g for both sexes. The highest correlation between morphological characteristics was determined for carapace length and crab weight in nonovigerous females (R-2 = 0.973; N = 317). The percentage of ovigerous females was 6.25% and they were observed only between May 2012 and August 2012. The mean fecundity was calculated as 89,129 +/- 8005 eggs. The egg diameter ranged from 499.0 to 701.7 mu m with a mean value of 546.36 +/- 18.62 mu m for stage I, 606.92 +/- 15.92 mu m for stage II, and 570.96 +/- 9.22 mu m for stage III.