Morphometric Differentiation of the Swimming Crab Portunus sanguinolentus (Herbst, 1783) Populations in East Asia: Implications for Stock Identification and Management

Morphometric disparities were employed to characterize the geographical variations in and elucidate phylogeography of Portunus sanguinolentus East Asia. In this study, a comprehensive assessment was undertaken based on measurements from 833 individual crabs. These crabs sampled eight distinct locations, namely Kyushu (KS), Fuzhou (FZ), Yilan (YL), Xiamen (XM), Tainan (TN), Hong Kong (HK), Vietnam (VN), Singapore (SG). Twelve morphometric standardized size using allometric method. A cluster analysis canonical variate (CVA) then conducted for data analysis. Randomization tests subsequently performed validate differences observed among groups. The analytical results classified populations into at least two clusters. first included three samples China (specifically FZ, XM, HK), while second consisted Asia (including KS, YL, TN, VN, SG). CVA revealed tripartite division groups: mainland group (FZ, Kuroshio (KS, TN), Southeast (VN between these broad groups statistically significant both genders. may be attributed evolutionary origins, events, or environmental adaptations. This study highlights effectiveness techniques providing insights species delimitation philogeographic relationships.