short communication" study on the reproduction characteristics of exopalaemon styliferus (h. milne edwards, 1840) in downstream bahmanshir river, abadan, iran

this study was conducted to investigate some aspects of the reproductive system of exopalaemon styliferus (h. milne edwards, 1840) population in downstream bahmanshir river during summer, 2008. a total of 472 specimens collected from sampling site?? stations, males and females comprised 55.4% and 43.6%, respectively (14.4% ovigerous female and 30.1% non-ovigerous females). the minimum size of males with appendix masculina was 2.69 cm body length and 0.4 g body weight and in females with eggs was 4.06 cm-bl and 1.54 g-w. the mean, minimum and maximum fecundity were 914, 242 and 1755, respectively. reproductive output (ro) of e. styliferus varied 8-21% (13% on average) of female wet weight. mean egg size (shortest × longest axis) at early and late embryonic development stages was (0.67 × 0.86) and (0.72 × 0.97) mm, respectively. the relationship between fecundity with body length (bl) and weight (w) was positive allometric and with carapace length (cl) was isometric.