Abstract

DURAN, Brenda  and  ALVAREZ, Fernando. The pillbug Creaseriella anops (Crustacea: Isopoda: Cirolanidae) from the anchialine caves of Yucatán, Mexico. Are there size variation patterns?. Rev. Mex. Biodiv. [online]. 2021, vol.92, e923925.  Epub Nov 29, 2021. ISSN 2007-8706.  https://doi.org/10.22201/ib.20078706e.2021.92.3925.

A study on the patterns of size variation of the isopod Creaseriella anops, one of the most abundant species in the anchialine caves of the Yucatán Peninsula (PY), is presented. We describe, through the analysis of samples from 22 anchialine caves distributed in the northern portion of the PY, the size composition, sex ratio, geographic variation between the Yucatán and Quintana Roo populations, and the bathymetric distribution. The results show that males, females, mancas, juveniles and mature females, all have well defined size ranges. A significant difference was found between isopod size from Yucatán and Quintana Roo; sex ratio considering all localities was 1M:1F. The bathymetric distribution shows a pattern in which the biggest isopods are in the shallow areas, but average size does not vary with depth. Finally, there was no relationship between average size and distance from the coast, but it was possible to identify significant differences in the total length of the organisms belonging to the different basins that have been proposed within the aquifer.

Keywords : Isopod; Stygobitic; Flooded caves; Yucatán Peninsula; Scavenger.

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