Professional Documents
Culture Documents
June 2018
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
_________________________________
JULIE CORCINO-BAYLON, Ph. D.
Adviser, Thesis Committee
______________________
Date Signed
_________________________________
FRANCES NIEVALES, M. Sc
Chair, Department of Biological Sciences
College of Arts and Sciences
______________________
Date Signed
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
PAGE
Certificate of Approval……………………………………………………. ii
Abstract…………………………………………………………………… iii
Acknowledgement…………………………………………………….…... iv
Table of Contents…………………………………………………………. v
List of Figures…………………………………………………………….. vii
List of Tables……………………………………………………………… ix
List of Abbreviations……………………………………………………… x
List of Appendices………………………………………………………... xi
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background and
1
Rationale……………………………………
1.2. Objectives…………………………………………………
1
….
1.3. Significance of the
2
Study……………………………………..
1.4. Scope and
2
Limitations………………………………………...
CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1. Taxonomy…………………………………………………… 3
2.2. Morphology…………………………………………………. 4
2.3. Distribution………………………………………………….. 5
2.4. Habitat and Ecology…………………………………………. 6
2.5. Mating Reproduction………………………………………… 7
2.6. Reproductive Biology………………………………………... 8
2.6.1. Morphology and histology of gonad maturation…… 9
2.6.2. Occurrence of ovigerous females…………………... 11
2.6.3. Breeding and spawning season…………………….. 12
2.6.4. Minimum size at maturity………………………….. 14
2.6.5. Gonadosomic index………………………………… 15
CHAPTER 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS
3.1. Collection site………………………………………………… 17
3.2. Collection of Samples………………………………………... 17
3.3. Determination of Sexes………………………………………. 19
3.4. Body Measurement…………………………………………... 20
3.5. Dissection…………………………………………………….. 21
3.6. Gonad Analysis………………………………………………. 22
3.6.1. Morphological characterization……………………. 22
3.6.2. Histological examination…………………………... 23
3.7. Analysis of Data……………………………………………… 23
CHAPTER 4. RESULTS
4.1. Morphological appearance of male and female gonads……… 24
4.2. Histological appearance of male and female gonads………… 30
4.3. Minimum size at sexual maturity……………………………. 31
4.4. Monthly percent occurrence of each gonad maturation stages 34
4.5. Monthly percent occurrence of male and female…………….. 36
4.6. Gonadosomic index…………………………………………... 37
4.7. Gonad index………………………………………………….. 38
CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION……………………………………………. 39
CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION………... 47
LITERATURE CITED…………………………………………………. 50
APPENDICES…………………………………………………………… 53
LIST OF FIGURES
Fisheries is one of the major industries found here in the Philippines, given the
location of the country, since it is found in the Pacific Ocean. The fisheries in the
Philippines are mainly composed of fishes, and shellfishes. One of the major marine
life products that is being marketed are crabs. Charybdis natator (Herbst, 1794)
commonly known as the “ridged swimming crab”, belongs to Family Portunidae, a
typical group of marine crabs which is widely distributed across Asia, Australia, and
Africa (Wee and Ng, 1995). Although uncommon and is not a major commercially-
fished species (Atlas of Living Australia) in comparison to other more abundant and
commercially important crabs, such as the mud crabs (Scylla serrata) and sand crabs
(Portunus pelagicus), the C. natator also contribute to crab fisheries in Asia and
Asutralia (Sumpton, 1990).
Crabs live in burrows in sandy beaches, mud in the rivers, and below the rocks
at the bottom of the ocean. But during mating season, large population of mature
crabs migrate to the ocean to copulate and sometimes this can be intervened by the
fisherfolk, and this could be a huge problem because if crabs fail to copulate, there
will be lesser population of crabs in the next generation.
Description
Morphology
The distinct reddish coloration of the anterolateral and frontal teeth, on the
granules and transverse carapace ridges are what make this species easily recognized.
It is similar to that of Charybdis granulata. Leene (1938), but it has since been
considered as a distinct species by Sakai (1976) and Miyake (1983). The under
surface of the manus of the chelipeds vary from having a transverse squamiform
arrangement to that of a surface with scattered granules (Wee and Ng, 1995).
Charybdis natator can grow its carapace ranging from 5 cm to 17 cm (Samuel, 2014).
Ridged swimming rock crabs, as the name implies, inhabits the bottom of the
ocean on rocky substrates or on coral reefs. They live ranging from 5 to 4 meters
below the sea levels (Samuel, 2014). They can also live on muddy or sandy substrate.
According to Sakai (1976), this species is found on the bottom of rocks, pebbles or
sand at depths of 15-35 meters.
Reproductive Biology
Morphological characterization
In the male crabs, there are only three stages of gonadal development for the
sperm (de Souza et al., 2012; Soundarapandian et al., 2013), (1) Immature, (2)
Maturing, and (3) Fully Matured. The gonads of the immature crabs are relatively
small, with a cream color, located lateral to stomach. In a maturing stage, the gonads
possess a creamy white color. The testes appear as a coiled tube placed laterally and
posterior to the stomach, while the vas deferens extends laterally to the heart. The last
stage, fully matured stage, of the male gonads appear as a milky white color. The
male gonads have an enlarged testis, with the vas deferens becomes coiled, and it
completely covers the full body cavity.
Histological examination
In female crabs, there are four histological stages that can be observed (de
Souza et al., 2009). The four stages of the female gonad development are: (1)
Previtellogenic stage, (2) Early-Vitellogenic Stage, (3) Late Vitellogenic Stage, and
lastly (4) Post-Spawning Stage. First, the previtellogenesis stage, oogonia may be
observed undergoing preliminary stages of meiotic division. The next stage, early-
stage vitellogenesis, the germinative zone can be seen that it is being compressed by
its surrounding previtellogenic oocytes. The oocytes may be observed as it is
undergoing early vitellogenesis. In the third stage, the mature vitellogenesis, the
ovaries are mostly filled with oocytes undergoing late-stage vitellogenesis. Mature
ovaries appear to be uniform and completely filled with mature oocytes, and lastly the
germinative zone is barely seen. Lastly, in the post-spawning stage, the ovaries can be
observed in a disarrayed arrangement due to the release of the mature oocytes outside
the system. Several previtellogenic oocytes and empty cavities can be observed in the
ovarian stroma along with a few counts of hamatocytesm fibers, and follicular cells.
The lining also assumes a distinct wavy appearance. There is also a restoration of the
ovarian arrangement along with the reduction of empty cavities and hematocytes.
In the male, the three stages of development that were identified histologically
are: (1) presence of spermatogonia in immature stage, (2) Presence of spermatogonia
and spermatocytes in maturing stage, and (3) formation of primary and secondary
spermatocytes, spermatids and spermatozoa in mature stage (Islam et al., 2013).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
February 2018. The sample will be taken from Estancia Iloilo, and will be delivered
and bought in the wet market of Miagao, Iloilo. Ten samples will be gathered in every
first week of the month. The samples shall have representatives of different sexes with
sizes ranging from the smallest to the largest for the determination of the fecundity
Collected crabs is stored in the ice box for preservation, so that the tissues of
the crabs will no deteriorate, and for the crabs to be anesthetized since crabs tend to
have cannibalistic instincts. The samples should not be placed in the freezer for the
gonads will not be of use during the histological analysis because it would be too stiff
to be prepared as thin sections for histological analysis, and the gonads will give off a
different color once it has reacted to the different dyes: haemotoxylin and eosin.
Determination of sexes
morphologically through the different shapes of their abdominal flaps. Male crabs
possess a narrow and triangular abdominal flap, while the female crabs have broader
and rounder abdominal flaps which covers the whole sternum of the female crabs
(Nemenzo, 1976). In males, they possess a pair of gonopods which is located in the
anterior part, inside the abdominal flap. Gonopods are long tubules that are used to
facilitate the sperm into the gonopore of the female crabs (Zinski, 2010). Gonopores
are small opening in the female crabs that is located ventrally in the first segment, in
between the first pair of pereiopods (Wilkin, 2002). Another distinct characteristic of
a female crab is that they have hairy appendages that functions as an attachment of the
developing embryos (Nemenzo, 1976). Size of the crabs can also be used to determine
the gender of the crab; female crabs are smaller than male crabs.
Body Measurement
For each crab, the body weight (BW), carapace width (CW), and carapace
length (CL) will be measured. The body weight will be measured by patting the crab
dry using clean cloth or tissue after removing it from the refrigerator. This is to avoid
errors in the results. The crab will be placed on a digital electronic balance and the
weight will be recorded to the nearest tenth of a gram. Carapace width and length will
be measured using a Vernier caliper and will be recorded to the nearest millimeter.
Carapace width (CW) is the distance between anterior lateral spine and the most
posterior lateral spine (Brown, 2009). Carapace length (CL) is the distance between
the centers of the frontal interorbital carapace margin and the posterior margin.
Dissection
Using a pair of sharp dissecting scissors, the dissection of crab will proceed by
cutting the dorsal carapace from the posterior end of the carapace moving in
will be removed to expose the gonads. A Y-shaped structure of gonads, called the
coloration. It is located on both sides of the gastric mill on the arterior part of the
gastric mill.
Gonad analysis
The gonad developmental stages for all sexes of Charybdis natator will be
investigated using two methods: (1) macroscopic technique which will involve the
description of the external morphology of the gonads and (2) microscopic technique
Morphological characterization
The macroscopic technique will involve the examination of the shape, size and
Immature, (2) Early maturing, (3) Late maturing, (4) Fully Mature, and (5) Spent. The
shape, size and color of the gonads will be analyzed based on this classification. The
male C. natator will be analyzed based on the three stages of gonadal development
according to Silva et al (2012): (1) immature, (2) maturing, and (3) mature.
Histological examination
The entire histological tissue preparation and processing will be done at the
After the macroscopic analysis, portions of the gonads will be placed in small
vials half-filled with Bouin’s solution and will be stored for 24 hours at room
concentration. Toluene will be added to remove the alcohol. The gonads will then be
placed in soft Paraffin wax for two hours. The gonads will be embedded in hard
Paraffin wax for several hours and the excess wax will be trimmed afterwards. Thin
sections will be prepared using a microtome (5µm), tissues will be stained using
haematoxylin and eosin, and will be left to dry overnight. Each section will be
mounted in slides, will be covered with cover slips and will be labeled with respective
date and crab number. The slides will be observed at the Phycology Laboratory,
determined. The sizes of the oocytes and oogonia will be measured in µm. The four
early maturing, (3) late maturing and (4) fully mature. In the male, the three stages of
development that were identified by Silva et al (2012) and Islam and Kurokura (2013)
and spermatocytes in maturing stage, and (3) formation of primary and secondary
Gonad analysis
Gonad analysis shall include computations of the gonadosomatic indices and
gonad indices. The quantitative gonadosomatic index (GSI) will be calculated using
the equation: GSI = gonad weight (g)/body weight (g) x 1000 (Krajangdara and
Watanabe, 2005). Pre-weighted values (WV) will be assigned to the female gonad
stages as: undeveloped and recovering - 1, developing - 2, ripe and spawning – 3. For
the male testes, the values to assign will be: immature - 1, and mature - 2. The mean
value of gonad indices (GI) or the index of sexual maturity will then be calculated
stage; and N is the total number of crabs per monthly sample. Values of mean gonad
indices per month will then be plotted against time (months) to determine the
Fecundity
of eggs produced by an organism (Baylon and Tito, 2012 “from” Reeby et al. 1990).
The eggs attached to the pleopods of ovigerous females will be scraped off to
determine the mean number of eggs per egg mass. Three replicates of 1 g sub-samples
will be taken and the number of eggs in each replicate will be counted under a
dissecting microscope (Baylon and Tito, 2012). The fecundity of each female crab
will be estimated by multiplying the mean number of eggs in the three replicates by
the total wet weight of the egg mass (Baylon and Tito, 2012 “from” Krajangdara and
Watanabe, 2005). To show the relationship of fecundity versus size of the female
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(Linnaeus, 1758) (Custacea: Decapoda: Raninidae) from Southwestern
Mindanao, Philippines. Asian Fisheries Science. 2012;25:113–123.
Quinitio ET, Pedro JD, Parado-Estepa FD. Ovarian maturation stages of the mud
crab, Scylla serrata. Aquaculture Research. 2007;38(14):1434–1441.
Souza LPD, Silva JRF. Morphology of the female reproductive system of the red-
clawed mangrove tree crab (Goniopsis cruentata Latreille, 1803). Scientia
Marina. 2009;73(3):527–539.