Crecimiento alométrico del cangrejo rojo (Ucides occidentalis) en el Golfo de Guayaquil, basado en la teoría de información

The allometric growth of the red crab, Ucides occidentalis was evaluated by the approach of information theory, for this purpose were used four common models for this type of study (ie Linear, Quadratic, Cubic and Inflection Point). With the aim to obtain an appropriate morphometric relationship for estimating sexual maturity as well as the ideal model for this relationship, was related the carapace width with the length of the carapace, fifth somite width, length and height of the largest chelae; analyzes were discriminating against individuals by sex and morphotype. By Akaike Information Criterion with the small sample, bias-corrected (AICc) found that nonlinear models showed better fit to the data, so it is preferable to use this type of analysis instead of the classical linear model. It was determined that morphometric variables in both morphotypes are not useful for estimating maturity in either sex, so it is necessary to find other methods (e. g. physiological maturity).