Diet of snow crab in the Barents Sea and macrozoobenthic communities in its area of distribution

• Published in: ICES Journal of Marine Science
• Main Authors: Zakharov, Denis V, Manushin, Igor E, Nosova, Tatiana B, Strelkova, Natalya A, Pavlov, Valery A
• Other Authors: Anderson, Emory
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2020
• Subjects: Ecology; Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Oceanography; Barents Sea; Pacific; Chionoecetes opilio; Novaya Zemlya; Snow crab
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsaa132; http://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article-pdf/78/2/545/38696141/fsaa132.pdf

Abstract This article investigates the diet of the snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) and its feeding intensity in the Barents Sea. Data show that snow crab has a diverse diet that includes almost all types of benthic invertebrates living in the Barents Sea. There are differences between the diets of females and males and of juveniles and adults. Juveniles and females typically occupy shallow areas with communities of bivalve molluscs, while males typically live deeper on slopes and depressions where polychaetes and crustaceans are the most abundant groups. Stomach contents were analysed to determine the species composition and frequency of occurrence of various benthic taxa. Consumption of food was estimated and compared with data from the Russian seas of the Pacific region. The total annual consumption of macrozoobenthos by snow crab was calculated in accordance with its current distribution in the Barents Sea. Snow crab consumes at least 30 000 tonnes of benthos annually, which amounts to 0.1–0.2% of the total macrozoobenthic biomass in the investigated area. The population of snow crab causes the largest impact on the benthic communities in the northeastern part of the Barents Sea and near the south side of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.