Relative growth, morphological sexual maturity, sexual dimorphism and handedness in the shrimp Alpheus carlae ANKER, 2012 (Decapoda: Alpheidae) from Cananéia, São Paulo

Abstract

The relative growth and morphological sexual maturity, sexual dimorphism and handedness will be investigated in the present study. The sampling occurred in two periods: bimonthly from March 2013 to January 2014 and monthly from April 2015 to March 2016 in the intertidal estuarine zone of Cananéia SP. The shrimp were transported to the laboratory, identified according to sex and measured (mm) in the follow body structures: carapace length (CL), length (CPL), width (CPW) and height (CPH) of major cheliped propodus, second pleuron length (SPL), appendix interna length (AIL) and appendix masculina length (AML). Relative growth will be analyzed by changes in the growth pattern of body structures and morphological sexual maturity will be estimated by the structures that show the best changed in the growth pattern between juveniles and adults. For the determination of the sexual dimorphism we will analyze the differences in the pattern of growth between the sexes and the variation in the average size of the corporeal structures. Handedness will be verified by the frequency of individuals with major cheliped in the side right and left. All data will be analyzed by statistics test. From this study, several biological information still unknown about the species will be raised contributing to the knowledge of its life history.