Reproductive aspects of the snapping shrimp Alpheus packardii (Decapoda, Alpheidae) in Mahahual reef lagoon, southern coast of Quintana Roo, Mexican Caribbean

ABSTRACT Alpheus packardii is widely distributed along the Atlantic coast of the Americas, from Cape Charles Virginia to São Paulo, Brazil and part of the West Indies. The goal of this study is to provide preliminary data on sex ratio, size at sexual maturity, fecundity, volume of the embryos, and brood loss on the basis of material collected in July 1997 at Mahahual, Quintana Roo, Mexico. The 483 specimens had a sex ratio of 0.88 males per female, which did not differ statistically from the expected value of 1:1. The estimated size (carapace length) at sexual maturity for females was 5.57 ± 0.69 mm. Fecundity varied between 31 and 302 embryos and increased with female size. The newly extruded embryos of A. packardii were small (0.069 ± 0.015 mm3) and similar in size to those reported for other species of the genus. Embryo volume increased by 59.42% during the incubation period, and the estimated brood loss was 38.6%. This study of specimens from the Atlantic coast of Mexico is the first to document the reproductive features of any population of A. packardii.