Each ovigerous female was removed carefully from the shell in an anticlockwise fashion, weighed (female wet weight, FWW), and measured on the basis of carapace length (CL = from the tip of the rostrum to the V-shaped groove at the posterior edge of the shield). Measurements were made by means of a Vernier caliper (0.1 mm accuracy). Shell species were identified according to Sharabati (1984) and the following measurements were made: shell weight (SW), shell aperture width (SAW) and shell aperture length (SAL). Shell internal volume (SIV) was determined by the amount of water required to fill the empty shell by means of a measuring pipette. The eggs were carefully removed from the pleopods and classified into developmental stages according to the methodology of Turra and Leite (2001): initial stage: stages 1 and 2, without eyes and yolk partially consumed; intermediate stage: stages 3 and 4, eye formation started and yolk partially consumed; final stage: stage 5, eyes formed and yolk totally consumed. They were then counted under a light stereomicroscope.