Aspects of the reproductive biology of female snow crabs, Chionoecetes bairdi, from Prince William Sound, Alaska

• Main Author: Hilsinger, John R.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 1975
• Subjects: Snow crab; Crabs; Reproduction; Fairbanks; Alaska; Chionoecetes bairdi
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11122/5226

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1975 The reproductive biology of the female snow crab, Chionoecetes bairdi, from Prince William Sound, Alaska is examined. Size at 50% maturity is 80 mm carapace width. All but a few females undergo a terminal anecdysis after maturity. Primiparous spawners molt to maturity and mate in winter or early spring while multiparous spawners extrude their eggs in May. Egg hatching occurs in both groups in April or May. All recently molted females and 90% of the old shell females are ovigerous. Egg number decreases from an average of 169,000 eggs per female after extrusion to 133,000 eggs per female before hatching. The ratio of females to males increases with size. This relationship is used to predict a ratio of 2.1 females per male at 96 mm, the average size of adult females. A comprehensive bibliography is given on the genus Chionoecetes.