Behavioral Ecology of Podding Red King Crab, Paralithodes camtschatica
Diel activity cycles and foraging dynamics for two pods of 500–800 juvenile red king crab, Paralithodes camtschatica, were monitored for 196 d. (Nov. 1987–June 1988) and 148 d. (Oct. 1988–Feb. 1989) in Womans Bay, Kodiak, Alaska, using SCUBA. Nocturnal foraging and homing behavior of podding red kin...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences |
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Language: | English |
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Canadian Science Publishing
1990
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f90-219 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f90-219 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/f90-219 2024-06-23T07:54:24+00:00 Behavioral Ecology of Podding Red King Crab, Paralithodes camtschatica Dew, C. Braxton 1990 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f90-219 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f90-219 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences volume 47, issue 10, page 1944-1958 ISSN 0706-652X 1205-7533 journal-article 1990 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/f90-219 2024-06-13T04:10:53Z Diel activity cycles and foraging dynamics for two pods of 500–800 juvenile red king crab, Paralithodes camtschatica, were monitored for 196 d. (Nov. 1987–June 1988) and 148 d. (Oct. 1988–Feb. 1989) in Womans Bay, Kodiak, Alaska, using SCUBA. Nocturnal foraging and homing behavior of podding red king crab were documented for the first time. Variation in time of pod dispersal into a nightly foraging aggregation was explained (R 2 = 0.72) by changes in water temperature, crab weight, and time of sunset. A trend of increased foraging time and movement to deeper, cooler water was apparent after mid-April, as water temperatures reached 4 °C and began a sustained summer increase. Molting occurred only at night, and seasonal variations in molting rate were estimated using molting probability models based on length-frequency distributions. Average pod movement was counter to the direction of strongest water currents, and homing behavior suggested some affinity for a low-light environment in man-made niches. Items most frequently eaten were sea stars (Evasterias troschelii) and macrophytes (Laminaria sp. and Ulva sp.). I discuss the inception of podding as a discontinuity in behavior, perhaps reflecting a break in the fractal continuum of niche availability within red king crab habitat. Article in Journal/Newspaper Kodiak Red king crab Alaska Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 47 10 1944 1958 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Diel activity cycles and foraging dynamics for two pods of 500–800 juvenile red king crab, Paralithodes camtschatica, were monitored for 196 d. (Nov. 1987–June 1988) and 148 d. (Oct. 1988–Feb. 1989) in Womans Bay, Kodiak, Alaska, using SCUBA. Nocturnal foraging and homing behavior of podding red king crab were documented for the first time. Variation in time of pod dispersal into a nightly foraging aggregation was explained (R 2 = 0.72) by changes in water temperature, crab weight, and time of sunset. A trend of increased foraging time and movement to deeper, cooler water was apparent after mid-April, as water temperatures reached 4 °C and began a sustained summer increase. Molting occurred only at night, and seasonal variations in molting rate were estimated using molting probability models based on length-frequency distributions. Average pod movement was counter to the direction of strongest water currents, and homing behavior suggested some affinity for a low-light environment in man-made niches. Items most frequently eaten were sea stars (Evasterias troschelii) and macrophytes (Laminaria sp. and Ulva sp.). I discuss the inception of podding as a discontinuity in behavior, perhaps reflecting a break in the fractal continuum of niche availability within red king crab habitat. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dew, C. Braxton |
spellingShingle |
Dew, C. Braxton Behavioral Ecology of Podding Red King Crab, Paralithodes camtschatica |
author_facet |
Dew, C. Braxton |
author_sort |
Dew, C. Braxton |
title |
Behavioral Ecology of Podding Red King Crab, Paralithodes camtschatica |
title_short |
Behavioral Ecology of Podding Red King Crab, Paralithodes camtschatica |
title_full |
Behavioral Ecology of Podding Red King Crab, Paralithodes camtschatica |
title_fullStr |
Behavioral Ecology of Podding Red King Crab, Paralithodes camtschatica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Behavioral Ecology of Podding Red King Crab, Paralithodes camtschatica |
title_sort |
behavioral ecology of podding red king crab, paralithodes camtschatica |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1990 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f90-219 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f90-219 |
genre |
Kodiak Red king crab Alaska |
genre_facet |
Kodiak Red king crab Alaska |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences volume 47, issue 10, page 1944-1958 ISSN 0706-652X 1205-7533 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/f90-219 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences |
container_volume |
47 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
1944 |
op_container_end_page |
1958 |
_version_ |
1802646553666519040 |