The results of the present study show that the level of allometry of male chelae does not change abruptly during the pubertal molt and that, therefore, immature crabs and mature ones cannot be distinguished on this basis. This replicates Sumpton's (1990b) findings for Charybdis natator, in which he found no evidence of discontinuity in the relative growth of male chelae. It is, however, well documented for portunid crabs that the level of allometry of male chelae changes suddenly. to pubertal molt in species such as Scylla serrata (Knuckey, 1996; Imtiaz et al., 1998), S. olivacea and S. paramamosain (Overton and Macintosh, 2002), Portunus pelagicus (Shields and Wood, 1993), P . Sanguinolentus (Rasheed and Mustaquim, 2010), Liocarcinus depurator (Muino et al., 1999), Ovalipes stephensoni (Haefner, 1985) and Charybdis bimaculata (Doi et al., 2008) and immature and mature crabs can be distinguished on the basis of phase allometry. Chelae, in sexually dimorphic crabs, are used by males for terrestrial defense, combat, display, and transport of the female during courtship (Hartnoll, 1982). The level of allometry of male chelae is slightly higher than that of females in the juvenile phase and a large increase in the level of phase allometry at the pubetal molt brings male chelae to their full functional size at sexual maturity (Hartnoll. 1982 ). Where there is little sexual dimorphism, the role of chelae may be correlated with behavioral patterns. Hartnoll (1982) cites the example of Goniopsis cruentata, a barchyurian crab of the family Grapsidae, where dimorphism is low and both sexes play an equal role in display and combat. The chelae of Charybdis feriatus show little sexual dimorphism and both sexes can play an equal role in display and combat. Therefore, no... middle of article ......n the present study was found to range from 1,270,399 to 3,774,114 and is higher than those previously reported. Padayatti (1990) from Cochin, India reported between 52,350 and 309,250 eggs, while Rameshbabu et al. (2006) found that fecundity ranged between 35,635 and 349,939. However, studies involving spawning and rearing of larvae in captivity showed higher numbers of eggs and/or zoea produced by female C .feriatus. Parado-Estepa et al (2002) from the Philippines and Josileen (2011) from India reported that a female C. feriatus can produce 1,200,000 and 1,400,000 zoea, respectively. The higher number of eggs found in the present study may be attributed to the methodology. Only females with recently laid eggs (bright orange) on their abdomen were used rather than crabs with eggs in the eye stage (gray color), as some eggs are lost during incubation and/or during handling..