Growth studies on Anomura, especially hermit crabs, are relatively limited, due to the complexity in constructing generalized growth models as well as the heterogeneity of the group. Despite Diogenes alias being one of the most abundant species in the study area, there is a lack of information regarding its sexual dimorphism and maturity. The present study aims to evaluate its ontogenic allometry, using Jolicoeur’s multivariate allometric coefficient. The specimens were collected biweekly from trawl fishing grounds off the Mumbai coast for one year. Sexual dimorphism was patent at the larger cheliped width in males and the wider shield width in females, which was attributed to the differential energy allocation by both male and female. The size of morphological sexual maturity was established at 7.6 mm shield length for males, and at 6.2 mm in females.
Selection of gastropod shells as shelter by hermit crabs in controlled experiments would provide useful information on the utility of these shells in nature. In this study, shell size and species preferences of Diogenes alias from the northeastern Arabian Sea were quantified by free choice experiments. Males of D. alias, prefer Indothais lacera and Tibia curta, when choice was given; no differences were found for other demographic groups. All hermit crabs occupied larger shells than the shells they occupied in nature. The best correlation was observed between internal volume, weight, and aperture width of the shell with the size of the hermit crab. This pattern has also been reported for other species (i.e., Clibanarius albidigitus, Calcinus tibicen, and C. obscurus). Furthermore, the present study highlights the importance of optimal resources in a scarce environment.
Length-weight relationship (LWR) was estimated for three stomatopod species, namely Oratosquillina perpensa (Kemp, 1911), Harpiosquilla raphidea (Fabricius, 1798) and Miyakella nepa (Latreille, 1828) for the first time from the north-eastern Arabian Sea. Experimental fishing, using a shrimp trawl, was conducted fortnightly during September 2017 up to April 2018 along the Maharashtra coast. A total of 821 samples were collected. Length-weight relationship showed good fit with coefficient of determination () values varying from 0.9190 to 0.9612. In this study, b values ranged from 2.758 to 3.140. The LWRs of Oratosquillina perpensa and Miyakella nepa have not yet been reported in the SealifeBase.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.