INVESTIGATING MORPHOMETRIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL MATURITY ALONGSIDE INSULIN-LIKE ANDROGENIC GLAND (IAG) EXPRESSION AND SIZE IN MALE JONAH CRAB, CANCER BOREALIS, IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND ...

• Main Author: Lawrence, Amanda Elizabeth
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Digital Repository at the University of Maryland 2020
• Subjects: Environmental science; Canada; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.13016/tmzf-lkc8; https://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/26644

Fisheries management requires a thorough understanding of the processes involved in reproduction, including the ability to distinguish sexually mature individuals; understanding the physiological processes driving an individual to become sexually mature is equally as important. The Jonah Crab, Cancer borealis, contributes to a significant and growing male-driven fishery along the Atlantic coast of North America primarily from Newfoundland, Canada to Florida; however, little is known about their life history. This study focuses on investigating the relationship between morphometric and physiological maturity, and the size at which these life changes occur in the Southern New England stock. We also aim to understand better how the male sex differentiation hormone, insulin-like androgenic gland hormone, IAG, and its transcript levels relate to size in male C. borealis. The size at 50% sexual maturity (SM50) in male C. borealis was estimated morphometrically to be at 105.9 mm carapace width (CW). This is larger ...