The objective of this study was to get some knowledge about the reproductive aspects of Goniopsis cruentata (Latreille, 1803), concerning through sex ratio, morphological sexual maturity, reproductive period, fecundity and eggs size. The crabs were collected monthly in Itacuruçá's Mangroves from November, 1997 to November, 1998. Four hundred and seven crabs were caught and they were 47% males, 36% females and 17% ovigerous females. The sex ratio was 1:1.13 (male:female) (X²= 1.54, p > 0.05). The relation of abdomen width (AW) and carapace width (CW) in females showed a positive allometric grow (b = 1.36), it suggests the size onset of maturity occur from 26.0 a 29.0 mm (CW) in females. The ovigerous females occured during all the research period, except for the winter months (June to August). The size of these ovigerous females varied from 26.0 to 48.8 mm with mean size 35.1 + 5.2 mm. Individual fecundity varied from 29,975 to 142,050 eggs and mean fecundity was 74,751 ± 27 eggs. The mean diameter of the eggs was 300 ± 20 µm.
Grapsidae; Goniopsis cruentata; reproduction; fecundity; sexual maturity; Sepetiba Bay