Callinectes maracaiboensis, Maracaibo swimcrab : fisheries

Callinectes maracaiboensis   Taissoun, 1969

Maracaibo swimcrab
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Malacostraca | Decapoda | Portunidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthic.  Tropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Western Central Atlantic: confined to the Lake Maracaibo estuarine system.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 16.0 cm WD male/unsexed; (Ref. 367); 12 cm WD (female)

Short description Morphology

Carapace almost twice as broad as long; 9 teeth on moderately arched anterolateral margin (including outer orbital tooth and strong lateral spine) tending to be acuminate especially in outer part of row, with tips directed outward; front (excluding inner orbital angles) bearing 4 well-developed teeth, lateral pair moderately acute. Marginal slopes of convex dorsal surface smooth and glistening (when wet), central part and transverse lines variably granulate. Pincers granulate on ridges, fingers of major hand heavily toothed; fifth legs flattened in form of paddles. Male with T-shaped abdomen reaching to anterior 1/4 of thoracic sternite 4; slender first pleopods sinuously curved overlapping in 2 places proximally, diverging distally then recurving to termination near midline and tip of telson, armed distally with dorsolateral band of large and small retrogressive spinules. Color: carapace olive green with variable tints of brown and blue distally, articulations and spines of legs orange and blue; underparts cream and light yellow with suffusion of light blue.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits brackish to occasionally fresh waters containing much silt and decomposing organic material, usually below 16‰ salinity, on sandy and muddy bottoms and among roots of mangroves (Ref. 367).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Members of the order Decapoda are mostly gonochoric. Mating behavior: Precopulatory courtship ritual is common (through olfactory and tactile cues); usually indirect sperm transfer.

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Tavares, M. 2003. (Ref. 367)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial
| FishSource |

Tools

E-book | Field guide

More information

Trophic Ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Fecundity
Spawning
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Physiology
Oxygen consumption
Human Related
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Pictures
References
References

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Very high.

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