Munida simplex Benedict, 1902

Kilgour, Morgan J. & Shirley, Thomas C., 2014, Reproductive biology of galatheoid and chirostyloid (Crustacea: Decapoda) squat lobsters from the Gulf of Mexico, Zootaxa 3754 (4), pp. 381-419 : 399

Munida simplex Benedict, 1902

Munida simplex has been previously reported from Cuba in depths of 143 to 238 m ( Benedict 1902). The specimens available for analysis were from the Gulf of Mexico in depths of 16 to 180 m. Specimens were collected in January, August, and October. Male CW ranged from 1.5 to 3.5 mm (n = 11), female CW ranged from 1.7 to 2.0 mm (n = 5), ovigerous females CW ranged from 1.7 to 2.9 mm (n = 3). Males and females were not significantly different in size (t-test, df = 15, t = 0.782, p = 0.446). There were not enough ovigerous specimens of M. simplex to conduct statistical analysis. The smallest ovigerous female was 1.7 mm (CW) with 24 eggs and an average egg diameter of 0.32 mm. The largest ovigerous female measured was 2.9 mm (CW) with 27 eggs and an average egg diameter of 0.24 mm. Ovigerous females were collected in August and October ( Fig. 9 F).

Figures

FIGURE 9. Number of specimens of each species collected for each month. Gray bars are males, white bars are females, and black bars are ovigerous females.