MORFOMETRI DAN ALOMETRI KEPITING BIOLA UCA PERPLEXA YANG TERDAPAT PADA VEGETASI MANGROVE DI PULAU BAAI, BENGKULU

Abstract

The study of mophology, morphometry and alometry of Uca perplexa, one of fiddler crabs that dominated at mangrove vegetation in Pulau Baii of Bengkulu have been conducted. We measured morphometric characters including body weight and sizes of carapace, abdomen, chelae, frontal, eyebrow and eye stalk. The result showed Uca perplexa live at sandy mud substrate and made burrow around mangrove roots. Uca perplexa have back carapace with some horizontal white strips. Carapace was acute and straight at anteriolateral part and rounded at dorsolateral. Their foot color usually brown although some of them were grey, were also found. The male (2.4±0.96 g) has higher of body weight than female (0.77±0.23 g) caused by dimorphism of chelae in male. Carapace width of male and female were 14.74±4.42 mm and 10.42±3.24 mm, respectively. As for abdomen width of male was 5.16±1.61 mm and of female was 6.58±1.38 mm. The length of major chelae was 44.66±9.22 mm as minor chelae was 10.50±0.49 mm. The frontal length of male was 3.44± 0.44 mm as for female was 2.83±0.69 mm. The eyebrows were narrow with eye stalks length for male and female were 6.50±2.46 and 4.20±0.92, respectively. Alometric analysis showed that Uca perplexa either male or female has growth pattern with negative alometry (b<3). It suggest the increase of body weight in Uca perplexa is slower than the increase of size of its carapace, abdomen and chelae.

Keywords : Uca perplexa, fiddler carb, morphometry, alometry, bengkulu