Can larvae produced from stored sperm in the ornamental crab Mithraculus forceps (A. Milne Edwards, 1875) (Decapoda: Brachyura: Majidae) be used in aquaculture?

The clinging crab, Mithraculus forceps (A. Milne Edwards, 1875), has been demonstrated to be a good candidate for aquaculture. The present study tests the possibility of using the 2nd clutch produced from wild captured ovigerous females for larval rearing. Although larvae of the 2nd clutch took slightly more time to metamorphose to crab, survivorship to newly settled juveniles (13 days post hatching - DPH) was not significantly different between the 1st clutch (85.7 ± 11.2%) and 2nd clutch (68.3 ± 8.4%). No differences were found in crab carapace length (1.32 ± 0.04 and 1.31 ± 0.03 mm for 1st and 2nd clutches, respectively) between the spawns, although the crabs from the 1st clutch were significantly wider than the ones from the 2nd clutch (1.14 ± 0.04 and 1.06 ± 0.03 mm, respectively). The high survivorship and fast larval development obtained in the 2nd clutch suggest that wild captured ovigerous M. forceps females can store sperm and should be maintained in captivity for multiple spawns.