Morphological and Morphometric Analysis of the male flower crab (Portunus armatus) in Selected Coastal Areas of Misamis Occidental, Philippines

Abstract

The male flower crab (Portunus armatus) distinguishes itself by its morphological traits, which highlight its abundance. A crab's emphasis is precisely determined by a number of coloration features, most notably the pattern on its carapaces. The aim of this study is to provide accurate information about the morphological and morphometric characteristics of male flower crabs in the selected coastal areas in Misamis Occidental. The sampling locations were Barangay Canubay, Oroquieta (30 crabs), Barangay Sinonoc, Sinacaban (30 crabs) and Barangay Maquilao, Tangub (30 crabs). A total of ninety (90) crabs were collected, thirty (30) per sampling site. The morphological analysis of crabs was determined based on the color and white patterns on their carapace. The morphometric characteristics were determined by measuring the length and width of the crabs’ carapaces and meri. These data were further analyzed using one-way ANOVA. The collected crab samples from Oroquieta, Sinacaban, and Tangub showed different patterns with 9, 7, and 6 variations, respectively. Among the morphometric characteristics, only the major cheliped merus width showed a significant difference in all study areas with a p-value of < 0.05. Furthermore, it shows that the male flower crab population from Tangub is significantly different from Sinacaban but not in Oroquieta and the population from Sinacaban is significantly different from Tangub in terms of major cheliped merus width. Findings of this research showed the variation in the morphology and morphometrics of the same species occupying different locations which may indicate diversity of traits within species that may lead to speciation. The researchers recommend conducting further research on geometric morphometrics analysis to compare the relative positions of landmarks between individuals or groups that focuses on shape variation and is accomplished through the “Procrustes paradigm.”