Body colour variation of juveniles within a single brood of the varunid crab Gaetice depressus (Decapoda: Brachyura: Varunidae)

Abstract

It has been suggested that body colour variation is shaped by both genetic and environmental mechanisms. However, it is not known whether body colour variation among the offspring of a single female occurs in brachyuran crabs. Here, we qualitatively assessed body colour variation in juveniles from a single brood of the varunid crab Gaetice depressus using material reared in the laboratory. This species exhibits body colour variation, and we reared larvae hatched from two females with brownish carapaces and two females with whitish carapaces to the juvenile stage. Brownish females produced juveniles with brownish carapaces, whereas whitish females produced juveniles with either brownish or whitish carapaces. Our experiments suggest the possibility of genotypic colour polymorphism in G. depressus.