Physiological and behavioral sexual maturity of female red deep-sea crabs Chaceon quinquedens (Smith, 1879) (Decapoda: Brachyura: Geryonidae) in the Mid-Atlantic Bight

Abstract

We describe the physiological and behavioral maturity of the red deep-sea crab, Chaceon quinquedens (Smith, 1879), using ovary and oocyte development and morphological features to estimate the size at 50% sexual maturity (SM50) for females in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. This economically important species inhabits the continental shelf and slope of the western Atlantic from Nova Scotia, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Samples were collected by trawling in 2011–2013 and by traps in 2014–2016. We used histological analysis to describe the stages of ovarian development. Five stages of ovarian development were identified: 1, immature; 2, early maturing; 3, late maturing; 4, mature; and 5, redeveloping. A logistic model was used to estimate the SM50 using maximum likelihood methods. Physiological SM50 varied among geographic locations and was estimated at 61.2 mm CL and 70.8 mm CL for females collected near Hudson Canyon and Baltimore and Norfolk canyons, respectively. Behavioral SM50 decreased with latitude and was estimated at 53.9 mm CL, 62.5 mm CL and 65.5 mm CL for Hudson, Baltimore, and Norfolk canyons, respectively. Results implied asynchrony between physiological and behavioral sexual maturity, suggesting that mating occurs prior to completion of ovarian development. This study provides the first evidence of a latitudinal trend in sexual maturity for C. quinquedens. Further investigation is needed to understand the cause of the latitudinal trend as our study presented limitations. Results provide useful information for fisheries management about the reproductive biology of C. quinquedens.

Size at Maturity, Shell Conditions, and Morphometric Relationships of Male and Female Jonah Crabs in the Middle Atlantic Bight

“…In contrast, some species, particularly arthropods, exhibit smaller body mass with increasing latitude (or decreasing temperature), a phenomenon known as inverse‐Bergman/James’ Rule (Blanckenhorn and Demont 2004). An inverse James’ cline—that is, a positive correlation between size and temperature—has been reported for mean size at maturity of female snow crabs Chionoecetes opilio in Alaska (Somerton 1981) and for male and female snow crabs in eastern Canada (Sainte‐Marie and Gilbert 1998); median CW for both sexes of snow crab in western Greenland (Burmeister and Sainte‐Marie 2010); mean size of ovigerous females in red king crab, blue king crab Paralithodes platypus , and golden king crab Lithodes aequispinus (Webb 2014); and both mean size (Stevens and Guida 2016) and size at maturity of red deep‐sea crab (Martínez‐Rivera et al 2020). Burmeister and Sainte‐Marie (2010) hypothesized that the increased size at maturity with temperature in snow crab was due to more frequent molting, the onset of maturity at a specific age, and constant relative growth increment, allowing crabs to reach a higher instar number in a limited time period.…”

Diet and Temperature Effects on the Survival of Larval Red Deep-Sea Crabs, Chaceon quinquedens (Smith, 1879), under Laboratory Conditions

“…Physiological size at 50% sexual maturity varied geographically and was estimated to be 61.2 mm carapace length in the Hudson Canyon and 70.8 mm in the Baltimore/Norfolk canyons. Behavioral size at 50% sexual maturity decreased with latitude and was estimated to be 53.9 mm, 62.5 mm, and 65.5 mm carapace length in the Hudson, Baltimore, and Norfolk canyons, respectively [11]. Similarly, Martínez-Rivera and Stevens [10] described the stages and seasonality of red deep-sea crab embryonic development and determined size-specific fecundity.…”

“…Recently, knowledge of embryonic development and fecundity as well as the physiological and sexual maturity of female RDSCs, which is vital to improving management strategies, has been published [9][10][11]. Physiological and behavioral sexual maturity of red deep-sea crabs were determined using morphological features and ovary and oocyte development to estimate female size at 50% sexual maturity [11]. Physiological size at 50% sexual maturity varied geographically and was estimated to be 61.2 mm carapace length in the Hudson Canyon and 70.8 mm in the Baltimore/Norfolk canyons.…”

Plasticity of growth rates and sizes at sexual maturity in different populations of the fiddler crab Minuca vocator (Herbst, 1804) within the same latitudinal range

“…Therefore, decapods from colder environments (high latitudes) would reach sexual maturity at larger sizes than conspecifics from warmer environments (low latitudes) (Landers et al 2002, Kuhn & Darnell 2019, Mullowney & Baker 2020, De Grande et al 2021. Several species of decapods show this pattern of larger maturity sizes at higher latitudes (Hines 1989, Le Bris et al 2017, Olson et al 2018, Johnson et al 2019, Martínez-Rivera et al 2020). Nevertheless, other species show an inverse relationship between maturity size and latitudes (Hines 1989, Darnell & Darnell 2018, or their size at maturity does not relate with latitudes or temperatures (Hirose et al 2013, Bakke et al 2018.…”