Taxonomy, length-weight relationship, food and feeding habits of flower moon crab Matuta planipes Fabricius, 1798 from coastal waters of Gopalpur, Odisha, India

The relationship between carapace length (CL), carapace width (CW) and total weight (TW) in the flower moon crab Matuta planipes Fabricius, 1798 was studied and found to be CL = 0.144+1.319 CW and CL = 0.356+1.273 CL for males and females respectively. In case of the carapace width and total weight, the relationships were: TW = 0.272 CW3.011 and TW = 0.474 CW2.555 for males and females respectively. The relationships of carapace length and total weight were: TW = 0.128 CL2.917 for males and TW = 0.184 CL2.650 for females. A linear pattern was found between the relationship of CL and CW for M. planipes, whereas a curvilinear pattern was found between the relationship of CL/CW and TW in the present study. It was also observed that M. planipes is an opportunistic omnivore, seaweed being the most dominant food item followed by crustaceans, seagrass, amphipods and miscellaneous matter.