Aspects of the biology of the hair crab, Erimacrus isenbeckii, in the eastern Bering Sea (Crustacea: Decapoda: Atelecyclidae)

1 Pages·1991·0.35 MB·

by  Theresa M Armetta

MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM 383
ASPECTS OF THE BIOLOGY OF THE HAIR was about 714¢. The mean size of females was much smaller
CRAB, ERIMACRUS ISENBECKII, IN THE than for mules; they averaged 66 mm in length and 197 g
EASTERN BERING SEA (CRUSTACEA; in weight. Hair crab have been fished around Japan and
DECAPODA: ATELECYCLIDAE) Korea for more than 60 yrs (Kawakami, 1934). The United
The hair crab, Erimacruy isenbeckii, is a medium- Stales fishery began in 1979 and occurred incidental to the
sized brachyuran in the family Atelecyclidae. The Bering Sea tanner crab fishery during the months of March
development of an United States fishery for hair crab in through June. The Pribilof area contributed 94-98% of the
1979, and the substantial decline of the eastern Bering catch (Griffin and Dunaway, 1985), which was taken with
Sea (EBS) population trom 1481 to 1984 prompted an commercial king and tanner crab pots.
analysis of hair crab data collected by the National The decline of the Bering Sea hair crab population
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) during trawl surveys coincided with the substantial declines of king and tanner
in the summers of 1979-1984, and in February 1983 and crabs. These declines may have resulted from changes in
1985. Pertinent Japanese literature on the worldwide the environment, increased predation, increased incidence
distribution, reproduction, and moulting of hair crab is of disease, or vulnerability to fishing pressure. Additional
summarised. information on maturity, growth, and mortalily is impor-
In the eastern Bering Sea, Erimacrus isenbeckti is tant for a more complete Understanding of the biology of
distributed from the north shore of the Alaska Peninsula to the hair crab.
the Pribilof Istands, and north to St. Matthew Island, It also
oecurs along the Aleutian Archipelago. In the West Literature Cited
Pacific, it is distributed along the east coast of Korea. both Griffin. K. and Dunaway. D. 1985. Bering Sea area shell-
coasts of Japan and Hokkaido, and along the Kurile Islands fish management report to Alaska Board of Fisher-
to the Kamtchatka Peninsula (Rathbun, 1930: Vinogradoy, ies, 179-245. In 8Westward region shellfish report to
1947), According to NMFS surveys, [he estimated popula- the Alaska Board of Fisheries9.
tion in the eastern Bering Sea was about 23 million crabs Kawakami, S., 1934, Survey forhair crab, Ten-day Report,
(rom 1979 to 1981, bul declined sharply to 4.4 million by Hokkaido Fisheries Experimental Laboratory.
1984 (Olio ef al,, 1985), The majority (67%) of the popu- 238/259: |-16,
lauion occurred in the Pribilof Islands area, Male crabs Otto. R.S., Stevens, B.G.. MacIntosh, R.A.. Stahl-Johnson,
occurred ala mean temperature of 3.4°C and depth of 66 K.L. and Wilson, S.J. 1985. United 8States crab re-
m, Whereas females occurred al a mean of 2.4°C and 64 m. search in the eastern Bering Sea during 1984, Inter-
There was no significant difference in mean depths be- national North Pacific Fisheries Commission, Annual
tween malas and females, but there was a significant dilfer- Report 1984: 47-59,
ence in mean temperatures at which male and female hair Rathbun, M.J., 1930, The cancroid crabs of America of the
crab were found, Some reproductive information was col- families Euryalidae, Portunidae, Atelecyclidae, Can-
lected from females, which comprised only 8% of the total cridae and Xanthidae. United States National Museum
survey catch. Ovigerous females were 65-87 mm in Bulletin 152: 1-609.
carapace length and carried from 34,000-4160,000 egys. Vinogradov. L.G., 1947, Decupod crustaceans of the Ok-
Females9 gonopores were open, closed with a protei- hotsk Sea. Izv. Tikhookean. Naukno-Issled. Inst.
naceous plug of male origin, or closed With a swollen Rybn, Khoz. Okeanogr., XX V_ 100 p. [Translation].
membrane similar to an arthrodial membrane. depending
Therese M. Armetta, Washington Dept. of F.isheries,
on reproductive stale of the female. Moulling was much
1000 Point Whitney Rd, Brinnon, Washington 98320,
more apparent during the February 1983 cruise than the
other cruises; 30% of the females and 20% of the males USA,
were either softshell or in the process of moulting. The Bradley G. Stevens, Alaska Fisheries and Science
mean length of males was 96 mm and the mean weight Center, Kodiak, Alaska 99615, USA.