Management of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, is currently surrounded by controversy. The species is considered a multiple-use resource, as it plays an important role as bait in a commercial fishery, as a source of an important biomedical product, as an important food source for multiple species of migratory shorebirds, as well as in several other minor, but important, uses. Concern has...

Between September 1996 and May 1998, the influence of habitat complexity and larval supply on the establishment of early post-settlement populations of red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) was studied in situ in Auke Bay, southeast Alaska. Dive transects and suction dredge surveys conducted during fall 1996 and spring 1998 indicated that late age 0 to 1 1 red king crabs were located only ...

The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, is a valuable resource in the Coastal Bays, supporting a steady commercial and recreational fishery. Surveys suggest that blue crab abundance fluctuates without an apparent trend, yet there is still a successful annual commercial fishery that even attracts crabbers from the Chesapeake Bay. Since 1990, commercial landings for crabs have averaged from 0.5 to 1....

Crustaceans are key components of marine ecosystems which, like other exploited marine taxa, show seasonable patterns of distribution and activity, with consequences for their availability to capture by targeted fisheries. Despite concerns over the sustainability of crab fisheries worldwide, difficulties in observing crabs' behaviour over their annual cycles, and the timings and durations of re...

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada is experimenting with a commercial fishery on the European green crab (Carcinus maenas), an invasive species in North America, to help reduce the negative impact this animal has on ecosystems and native shellfish populations. We determined the break-even price that fishers would require for green crabs under different fishing scenarios (i.e. diff...

Despite the widespread use of carbon stable isotopes to distinguish among potential energy pathways in food webs, their usefulness is limited where potential basal carbon sources are numerous and diverse. We measured carbon isotope values of the major fisheries species, the mostly carnivorous Scylla serrata (giant mud crab), and potential basal, autotrophic sources supporting the food web. Conv...

Title of Thesis: SPATIAL ECOLOGY OF BLUE CRAB (CALLINECTES SAPIDUS) IN CHESAPEAKE BAY Olaf P. Jensen, MS, 2004 Thesis Directed By: Professor Thomas J. Miller, Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Science Department Spatial heterogeneity is a striking feature of the blue crab life history and fisheries in Chesapeake Bay. However, a quantitative assessment of their spatial distribution and the fa...

—Quantifying lipofuscin (LF), a metabolic byproduct that accumulates in postmitotic cells, serves as one of the principal approaches for aging crustaceans, but the accuracy of this method remains an important issue. Here, we quantified LF accumulation as a function of chronological age and temperature (degree-days) in an economically important crustacean, the blue crab Callinectes sapidus, to t...