Size at maturity of female red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, from the costal zone of Kola Peninsula (southern Barents Sea)

• Main Authors: DVORETSKY, Alexander G., DVORETSKY, Vladimir G.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Station Biologique de Roscoff (SBR) 2015
• Subjects: Barents Sea; Dolgaya; Kola Peninsula; Pacific; Sayda; kola peninsula; Paralithodes camtschaticus; Red king crab
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.21411/cbm.a.9ebe5d8c; http://application.sb-roscoff.fr/cbm/doi/10.21411/CBM.A.9EBE5D8C

The red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus (Tilesius, 1815), is a large commercial species introduced in the Barents Sea. The aim of this study was to estimate the size at maturity (SM50) in female red king crab sampled at three costal sites of the Russian parts in the Barents Sea. Females were defined as sexually mature based on the observed presence of eggs or past presence of eggs (egg remains). In Sayda Bay, the SM50 was 104.0 mm carapace length (CL), this value was similar to the SM50 of females collected in Dolgaya Bay (104.2 mm CL). The highest SM50 (110.2 mm CL) was found for female crabs collected in Dalnezelenetskaya Bay. These differences in general reflect a well known pattern of inverse correlation between SM50 and water temperature which is about 1ºC lower in Dalnezelenetskaya Bay compared to other sites. Other temperature related factors as well as fishing pressure could also affect variations of SM50 observed in our study. Our SM50 levels were lower or comparable to those found in Norwegian fjords of the Barents Sea. Female red king crab appears to mature at a larger size in the Barents Sea than those found in the North Pacific Ocean.