Volumen 36- Número 2: 199-203 | 2001
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Contribution to the biology of the spider crabs Maiopsis panamensis Faxon, 1893 and Stenocionops ovata (Bell, 1835) (Decapoda: Majoidea) from the Gulf of California, Mexico

Marcial Villalejo-Fuerte*, Bertha P. Ceballos-Vázquez, Marcial Arellano-Martínez & Federico García-Domínguez

Departamento de Pesquerías y Biología Marina, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas-Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Apdo. Postal 592. La Paz, Baja California Sur, 23000 México

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Morphological data from incidental captures in the Gulf of California of the spider crabs Maiopsis panamensis and Stenocionops ovata are presented. Sex ratios, carapace width and length distributions by sex, weight distribution by sex, and ovigerous female frequency are reported. New maximum values for the size of the branchial width of the carapace in males of both species have been observed. 70 mm wider than previously recorded in M. panamensis and a 9.5 mm wider in S. ovata. Moreover, the presence of M. panamensis along the West Coast of the Gulf of California has been registered, out of its limit of the reported distribution.  

Key words: Spider crab, Majoidea, Gulf of California, Mexico