Ontogenetic changes in the relative growth of males and females of the spider crab Maja squinado were analyzed and related to their reproductive (maturity) status in order to define criteria to assign individuals to each growth phase. The sampling was carried out in two different areas of southern Galician waters, northwestern Spain, in shallow water (�10 m) with mixed rocky-sandy bottoms (juvenile and postpubertal adult areas) and deep water (�20 m) with soft bottoms (adult habitat). A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of morphometric variables and a nonhierarchic K-means cluster of PCA scores differentiated two morphometric groups defined as juvenile and adult phases. A significant change in allometry of cheliped size was detected in juvenile males with a break point at a 109-mm carapace length (CL). This point may indicate a change in the relative growth of juveniles, separating the immature and adolescent phases. Histological analysis of a subsample of males showed that sperm were present in most adolescent crabs, but not in immature crabs. Bivariate morphometric linear discriminant functions allow for the identification of juvenile and adult males (classified previously by K-means cluster) with over 99% correct classification using CL and the length or height of the right cheliped. Carapace length at the onset of sexual maturity was estimated to be 132.7 mm (50% of adult males), although in a broad range, 112-165 mm, the size of juveniles and adults overlap. The life history of male spider crabs shows 3 phases differentiated by the relative growth rate of chelipeds separated by two 2 critical molts: prepubertal molt (immature-adolescent) determines a slight increase in allometry, and pubertal or terminal molt (adolescent-adult) determines an increase in the relative size and allometry of chelipeds and the onset of functional maturity. Females showed only 2 phases separated by the terminal molt. Growth of chelipeds in females showed no changes in allometry and was similar to juvenile males. Juvenile females presented a smaller relative width and a higher allometry of the abdomen with regard to adult females. Unlike juvenile females with a flat abdomen, adult females with a domed abdomen have well-developed pleopods, gonads, and seminal receptacles. Carapace length at the onset of sexual maturity was estimated to be 130.4 mm (50% of adult females). The range of overlap of the size of juveniles and adults (114-143 mm) was smaller than in males.

Late stage juveniles and adults of Callinectes sapidus in Chesapeake Bay, USA, and Maja squinado off the Ria de Arousa, Spain, were compared for ontogenetic changes in movement patterns (speed, distance, orientation) and habitat selection (depth, substrate) using ultrasonic telemetry and published information. After settling in submerged grass beds in the lower Bay, 20-mm juvenile C. sapidus disperse long distances into low salinity sub-estuaries to feed and grow to maturity in two years. Within the Rhode River sub-estuary, juvenile C. sapidus moved with a mean speed of 12 m h 1 in nearshore shallows (1-1 m); whereas adults averaged 24 m h" 1 in the deeper (2-9 m) channel areas and moved freely in and out of the main estuary. Individuals of both life stages exhibited a pattern of slow meandering (juveniles, 2 m h 1 , adults 10 m h" 1 ) within a limited area, alternating with faster, directionally-oriented movement (both stages >50 m h' 1 ) between meandering sites. Juvenile and adult males over winter in deeper water nearby, while inseminated females migrate long distances into high salinity areas to incubate the eggs. Callinectes sapidus completes the migration cycle only once per 2-5-y generation. Maja squinado settles on rocks in shallow kelp forests in the coastal zone, where they grow to maturity in 2 y. Juveniles moved slowly (0-5 m h" 1 ) while meandering without directional orientation on shallow (4 m) small patch reefs during summer. After the pubertal moult in summer, adults also meandered slowly (1 m h" 1 ) mostly on rocks at slightly greater depth (7 m). In late summer and autumn, newly mature and older adults moved with directional orientation into deeper (10-40 m) water for the winter, until migrating back to the shallows for the summer; whereas juveniles remained inshore on rocks for the winter. Adult M. squinado live several years after puberty and complete the seasonal migratory cycle several times during their lives.Despite marked differences between the two species in life histories and habitats, their similarities in behaviour and shifts in habitat utilization during ontogeny reflect adaptation to similar selective pressures. For both species, juvenile movement and habitat selection primarily indicates adaptation to intense predation pressure and growth optimization; whereas adult behaviour and migration indicates relaxed predation pressure but optimization of energy needs and site of larval release.

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The diet of the spider crab, Maja squinado, was studied in the rocky subtidal areas of the Ría de Arousa (Galicia, north-west Spain), by analysing the gut contents of crabs caught in the summer and winter of 1992. The highly diverse diet was made up primarily of macroalgae and benthic invertebrates that were either sessile or had little mobility. The most important prey were the seaweeds Laminariaceae (43% of the frequency of occurrence and 15% of the food dry weight), Corallina spp. (38% and 3%), molluscs [the chiton Acanthochitona crinitus (15% and 1%), the gastropods Bittium sp. (30% and 2%), Trochiidae and others and the bivalve Mytilus sp. (32% and 12%)], echinoderms [the holothurian Aslia lefevrei (32% and 18%) and the echinoid Paracentrotus lividus (16% and 7%)] and solitary ascidians (18% and 6%). The variability in diet composition was determined by the season (Laminariaceae, Corallina spp., P. lividus, Mytilus sp., gastropods and chitons appeared in greater frequency in winter, while the solitary ascidians and A. lefevrei were consumed to a greater extent in summer) in addition to sexual maturity (prey such as Bittium sp. or Trochiidae were more common in juveniles). Moreover, the changes in the food consumption rate were linked primarily to the moult stage. Feeding activity plummeted during the phases immediately preceding and following ecdysis (stages D0–D3–4 and A), and the diet was less diverse during these phases. No feeding differences were found that could be linked to sex. The composition of the diet of Maja squinado appears to be determined by the seasonal abundance of the different prey in subtidal rocky areas and by their availability (depending on their behavioural and anatomical characteristics, mainly mobility and the presence of hard external structures). Moreover, life history factors have little importance in the variability of the diet composition and only the moult cycle has a considerable effect on feeding rate.

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