Relation of number of eggs and egg length to carapace width in the brachyuran crabs chionoecetes bairdi and chionoecetes opilio from the southeastern bering sea and chionoecetes opilio from the gulf of st lawrence canada
Haynes, E.; Karinen, J.F.; Watson, J.; Jopson, D.J.
Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 33(11): 2592-2595
1976
Accession: 006294759
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The number of eggs attached to pleopods of C. bairdi and C. opilio from the southeastern Bering Sea increased at a rate proportional to about the 3.4 and 2.7 power of carapace width, respectively, but for C. opilio from the Gulf of St. Lawrence it increased to the 4.2 power. The range in carapace width and number of eggs for crabs from the Bering Sea of a given carapace width were considerably greater for C. bairdi than for C. opilio. In the SE Bering Sea, the reproductive potential for adult females of C. bairdi with mixed spawning history was .apprx. 4 times greater than that of C. opilio spawning for the first time. C. opilio females with mixed spawning history in the Gulf of St. Lawrence carried more eggs for a given carapace width than first-time spawners for the SW Bering Sea. The data were insufficient to resolve the question of relative number of eggs for crabs of various ages.