Carapace colour morphs of the blue swimmer crab Portunus pelagicus population in Mandapam (Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar) region

Abstract

The study analyzed the live colour pattern present on the carapace of Portunus pelagicus. Our results indicated that the occurrence of three major colour morphs in the population of P. pelagicus with an intraspecific variation among the female population in Mandapam (Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar) region. The crab population was dominated by carapace colour morph Type 2 (51.27%) in Palk Bay and Type 3 (54.80%) in Gulf of Mannar. There was no evidence of a colour morph difference between ages in observed specimens. The colour morphotypes showed significant difference in the analysed population, among and between the sexes