Duarte et al: Relative growth, population structure, and reproductive biology of slipper lobsters (Scyllaridae) 
57 
Figure 1 
Carapace color patterns established for specimens of the hooded slipper lobster ( Scyllarides decep- 
tor) observed at fishery landings in southeastern Brazil from May 2006 to April 2007: red (R), light 
(L), dark (D), intermediate (I), light red (LR), dark red (DR), and mixed (M). 
10 longlines with 2500 pots and 150 interspersed traps 
per longline, providing a total of 25,000 pots and 1500 
traps for an individual fishery. The traps are baited 
(with remains of fishes) to catch octopuses, fishes, and 
slipper lobsters, and the pots are not baited, (Duarte 
et ah, 2010; Castanhari and Tomas, 2012). Pots have a 
minimum internal diameter of 15 cm and are used as a 
shelter by common octopus. The number of pots cannot 
exceed 20,000 units per boat, and baited pots are not 
permitted with this type of fishing (SEAP, 2005) (see 
trap differences in Duarte et ah, 2010). Lobsters are 
not caught in these pots. 
Slipper lobster species were identified in this study 
by examination the morphological structure of the pos- 
terior margin of the 2nd abdominal pleura (Melo, 1999), 
which is a large concave spine in the hooded slipper 
lobster and straight or slightly convex in the Brazilian 
slipper lobster. Sex of lobsters was determined by the 
location of the gonopores on the base of the 3rd or 5th 
pair of pereiopods in males and females, respectively 
(Abele, 1982; Hardwick and Cline, 1990). 
Sampling efforts conducted at landing sites during 
the study period resulted in the collection of 1032 speci- 
mens, which were measured for biometric relationships 
and size structure with a tape measure attached to a 
wooden board for total length (TL), with a caliper for 
other linear measurements, and with a manual balance 
for the total weight (Abele, 1982). With a tape measure, 
TL was measured in centimeters from the distal tip 
of the antenna to the posterior end of the telson. The 
following measurements were obtained in millimeters 
with a caliper: carapace length (CL) between the distal 
extremity of the rostrum to the posterior margin of the 
carapace; carapace width (CW) between the sides of the 
carapace at its midpoint; abdomen width (AW) between 
the sides of the 1st and 2nd abdominal somites; abdo- 
men length (LA) between the posterior margin of the 
carapace and the posterior end of the telson; and an- 
tenna length (AL) from the base to the distal tip. The 
total weight (Wz) was measured in grams by weighing 
the intact, fresh animal. 
The carapace color of each specimen was recorded 
upon landing and was classified according to 7 pat- 
terns (Fig. 1), 3 of which were established by the pre- 
dominant color (>75%): red (R), light (L), and dark (D). 
The remaining 4 patterns were classified by their color 
tone. For 3 of the remaining patterns, -50% of a cara- 
pace had to have an intermediate (I), light red (LR), or 
dark red (DR) tone; for the fourth pattern, -33.3% of a 
carapace had to have a mixed (M) tone. 
All the ovigerous females (100%, ft =22) were re- 
corded and collected during the sampling efforts from 
May 2006 to April 2007. During the study period, this 
subsample of 22 female specimens, with lengths that 
ranged from 22.5 to 32.0 cm TL, were collected from 
different boats, and their stage of embryonic develop- 
ment was categorized according to the classification 
of DeMartini and Williams (2001). The animals were 
placed in individual plastic bags and kept in crushed 
ice before laboratory analysis. 
Laboratory processing 
Females also were collected at the time of landing 
and were later dissected for macroscopic examination 
of their gonads, which were categorized according to 
the classification proposed by Stewart et al. (1997) and 
Haddy et al. (2005). This classification was established 
for lobster species from the genus Ibacus and is also 
valid for the species in our study because of identi- 
cal macroscopic characteristics. Five maturation stages 
were established: the first 2 stages for juvenile indi- 
viduals and stages 3-5 for mature individuals. At stage 
1, the ovary is small, narrow, translucent to white, and 
has no visible oocytes. A female at stage 2 has a small 
and cream to yellow ovary with no visible oocytes. At 
