Morphometric structure and allometry profiles of the giant red shrimp Aristaeomorpha foliacea (Risso, 1827) in the eastern Mediterranean

Abstract

The relative growth of body parts, such as abdomen, uropod, scaphocerite, telson, rostrum, and the third pereiopod of males and females of the giant red shrimp (Aristaeomorpha foliacea, Risso, 1827) was studied in samples from the Greek Ionian Sea (eastern Mediterranean) in 1999–2000. These were related to carapace length, sex and size of individuals. A length–weight relationship was also obtained. In general, a negative allometry of swimming appendages (uropod, scaphocerite), abdomen (related to metabolic processes), and length of the third pereiopod (involved in walking ability) was observed in both sexes. Growth of the telson was positively allometric in females and negatively allometric in males. Asynchronous growth of the male rostrum was also noted. Appendages were proportionally longer in juveniles than in adults of both sexes. A strong negative allometry between length–weight for both sexes was shown, and females were heavier than males in all sampled months.

Keywords:

• Allometry
• Aristaeomorpha foliacea
• Ionian Sea
• relative growth

Acknowledgements

The data were collected within the framework of the project “Investigation of the renewable marine biological resources in the deep waters of the Ionian Sea—Interreg II Greece–Italy”. The author wishes to express his appreciation to Dr Mytilineou Ch., co‐ordinator of this project. The manuscript was much improved by suggestions from Dr Conides and the anonymous reviewers.

Notes

CL, carapace length; n, number of measurements; a, y‐intercept; b, slope; r, correlation coefficient; t‐test, Student's t‐test statistic; ABD, abdominal length; P, pereiopod length, R, rostral length, S, scaphocerite length, T, telson length, U, uropodal exopodite, W, weight, F, females; M, males.

Data represented by these regressions parameters are shown as presented in Figures 3, 4.

In all cases P<0.05.

n, number of individuals, a, y‐intercept; b, slope; r, correlation coefficient.

In all the cases P<0.05.