ALLOMETRIC VARIATIONS OF HORSESHOE CRAB (TACHYPLEUS GIGAS) POPULATIONS COLLECTED FROM CHENDOR AND CHERATING, PAHANG, PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Abstract

Tachypleus gigas (Miiller) has the widest latitudinal dispersion of the three Asian horseshoe crab species, laying out across the western Pacific Ocean from Japan to the Philippines, extending into the Indian Ocean and only found on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. To date, the population of this species has decreased due to active consumption as a delicacy for both domestic and international markets. A study was conducted to determine the relationship between one body parameter and the others. An allometry analysis was applied to study the allometric variability of sixty horseshoe crabs (Tachypleus gigas, Miiller) collected from two different populations of Chendor and Cherating Pahang of Peninsular Malaysia. The values of all parameters: carapace width, total length and total weight were recorded and analysed using correlation-coefficient and regression formulations. It was found that there were linear allometric relationships between these parameters. This showed that the growth in these parameters were isometric in both populations. There were no significant differences in morphometric characteristics between both male and female and between the two populations. It canbe concluded that a proportional increment in morphometric characters were seen with an increase in age.