Abstract:
This study was carried out to investigate the mating behavior and success of
the commercially important orange mud crab, Scylla olivacea through limb autotomy
technique. This technique was applied on five mature females by removing all the
walking legs and chelae to shorten the molting process and subsequent mating. After
32.40 ± 15.70 days, all female crabs had successfully molted and entered the post
molt (soft-shell) stage. The post-molt females were then transferred to the mating tank,
the mean precopulation duration was 5.00 ± 5.20 minutes and mean copulation
duration was 16.10 ± 3.43 hours.
