Sex-specific differences in the growth and population characteristics of sand crab Ovalipes punctatus in coastal waters of Korea

Abstract

Studying the growth pattern of crabs is essential to understand their ecological roles in populations and benthic communities; such studies on a high commercial-value crab in Asia, Sand crab Ovalipes punctatus, are scarce, and no studies are available for Korea. Therefore, growth and population characteristics of O. punctatus in coastal waters of Korea were investigated. The estimated allometric growth between the sexes showed significant differences in all morphometric measurements. The carapace width-chela length showed positive and negative allometric growth in males and females, respectively; carapace width-abdominal width and orbital spine width showed positive and negative relative growth, respectively, in both sexes. Sexual dimorphism was present in all measured traits. In the results of the Hasselbad’s normal separation method, two modes were observed from September to December. Overall, the growth parameters of males were higher than those of females. Growth was slow for females in August and males in December. The modified von Bertalanffy growth curves indicated asymptotic growth in all sexes. O. punctatus exhibited sex-specific growth strategies and a distinct peak in the recruitment rate in September after the spawning season (May–July). The study results can inform on resource management and policy establishment regarding sand crabs in Korea.