Biometric analysis of lacustrine and riverine populations of Palemonetes antennarius (H. Milne-Edwards, 1837) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Palaemonidae) from north-western Greece

Abstract

Comparative study of morphometric measurements was undertaken on populations of Palaemonetes antennarius from two freshwater habitat zones (lacustrine pelagic and lacustrine littoral) and from the fluvial littoral habitat zone of three estuaries of north-western Greece. Multivariate statistical analyses (principal component analysis and discriminant function analysis) revealed clear morphometric differences between sexes and sampling sites. The observed differences are expressed mainly thought the measurements related to the body heights (carapace height and second pleon height), as a result of sexual dimorphism, High values for the female body heights seem to be correlated to specific fecundity profile and reproductive strategy. On the other hand, morphometrical variables related mainly to body lengths, such as rostral, telson and pleon lengths, were observed to be correlated to the study sites. Characters related to the summing capacity (telson length, telson width and pleon lengths) were generally found to have higher values in the specimens from habitats with high reophilic profile.

Morphological differentiation among species of the genus Mugil Linnaeus, 1758 (Mugilidae) from Côte d’Ivoire

“…In similar studies, the strong discriminating power of morphometric variables has been recognized (Waldman et al, 1997;Murta, 2000;Garcia-Davila et al, 2005;Ferrito et al, 2007;Anastasiadou and Leonardos, 2008;Anastasiadou et al, 2009). This has shown that the morphometric characters used in this study have an application in taxonomy and may be used as indices to measure morphometric variation among Mugil groups.…”

Dimorfismo sexual em Hepatus pudibundus (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura)

“…Apesar da diferença significativa de tamanho entre machos e fêmeas, ambos atingem a maturidade sexual morfológica com aproximadamente 32,5 mm de largura da carapaça (Reigada & Negreiros-Fransozo, 1999). O tamanho corpóreo maior de fêmeas pode ser explicado, em parte, por fatores relacionados à variação populacional (status nutricional e disponibilidade de alimento) ou a metodologia de coleta empregada, que pode ter selecionado fêmeas maiores que machos (Anastasiadou et al, 2009).…”

Shrimps of an ancient Balkan lake: Bionomy and conservation

“…The shrimp P. antennarius is an euryhaline species, inhabiting freshwaters and estuarine habitats (Parry & Potts 1965;DallaVia 1983DallaVia , 1986Gottstein Matočec & Kerovec2002;Gottstein Matočec et al 2006;Anastasiadou et al 2009). Its well established population in the lake can possibly be attributed to a succession of events.…”

“…These two major families are represented up today by five species in Greek freshwater ecosystems: the freshwater shrimps Atyaephyra acheronensis Christodoulou et al, 2012, A. stankoi Karaman, 1972, A. strymonensis Christodoulou et al, 2012and A. thyamisensis Christodoulou et al, 2012 and the grass shrimp Palaemonetes antennarius (H. Milne-Edwards, 1837). The only published information on the freshwater Greek shrimp fauna is focused on zoogeography, taxonomy, morphometry and karyological analysis (Anastasiadou et al 2004(Anastasiadou et al , 2009Anastasiadou & Leonardos 2008, 2010García Muńoz et al 2009;Christodoulou et al 2012), while bionomic studies are lacking at all. But, as it has been recorded in previous studies, the freshwater shrimps play a crucial role in ecosystems, occurring in a variety of habitats (De Grave et al 2008) and transferring energy from lower levels of the trophic chain (detritus, phytoplankton and riparian vegetation) to higher ones (carnivorous fishes) (Meurisse-Genin et al 1985;Fidalgo 1989;García-Berthou & Moreno-Amich 2000;Fidalgo & Gerhardt 2002;Duarte et al 2012).…”