Shell Condition and Breeding Success in Tanner Crabs
- Authors: A.J. Paul, J.M. Paul, and W.E. Donaldson
- Pub. no.: RP-95-11
- Year: 1995
- No. pages: 5
- Price: Single copies free
Description
This is one of the first studies to demonstrate effects of shell condition on male Tanner crab reproductive success. Prior research on male crab maturity has focused on body size and chela size. Authors compared breeding success in new-shell males (crabs that have molted within a year) and old-shell males (more than a year since molting, shells often worn and with epiphytes). When pairs of similar-size new-shell and old-shell males were presented with female crabs, the old-shell males dominated in 70% of copulations. In contests to possess the female, old-shell males won 69% of the time. This could have important implications in fishery management. If a fishery targets the more reproductively successful old-shell males in a crab population, the breeding advantage would be diminished. Journal of Crustacean Biology 15(3):476-480, 1995
