Sexual Form Alternation Occurs in Female Red Swamp Crayfish

Adult males of Procambarus clarkii exhibit a unique reproductive strategy, showing a cyclical dimorphism between two sexual morphotypes; reproductive form I has large chelae and non-reproductive form II has small chelae. However, whether P. clarkii females have two sexual morphotypes and exhibit form alternation has not been resolved. We employed allometric growth analysis on the chelae dimensions of P. clarkii females and males. Our analysis demonstrated the existence of two sexual forms in P. clarkii females and highlighted the intra- and inter-sexual dimorphisms in the chelae of this species. We successfully traced the reproductive cycle of the P. clarkii population by examining the occurrence patterns of sexual forms and suggested that crayfish may exhibit the size-dependent moulting and form alternations.


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