Reproductive biology of swimming crab, Charybdis hellerii (A. Milne-Edwards, 1867) in coastal waters of the Persian Gulf (Hormuzgan province)

This study was conducted to determine some aspects of reproductive biology of the Indo-Pacific swimming crab, Charybdis hellerii (A. Milne-Edwards, 1867) in coastal waters of the Persian Gulf (Hormozgan province) from June 2015 to May 2016. The results showed that the annual sex ratio is F: M=1:1.3, with 57.4 % males. All the five stages of ovarian development of C. hellerii were observed throughout the year. This crab can spawn all year round with a spawning peak in spring season (From February to July). The fecundity of ovigerous crabs with a carapace width of 41-65 mm ranged from 107040 to 2560065 eggs, with average of 779325 eggs. The minimum carapace width (CW) of female crabs in sexual maturity age was 38 mm and the CW of female in a length of 50% of all ovigerous females (LM 50) was 54.55 mm.