1- Summary Table of Stone Crab, (Menippe Mercenaria) Life History
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Rvsd La Stone Crabs.Indd
Artist Unknown LOUISIANA STONE CRABS By Jerald Horst In recent years, a small commercial recreational and fishery has developed for stone crabs in high- salinity bays across Louisiana. Stone crabs began to attract attention in the 1980s, when more of them began appearing in blue crab traps in coastal lakes and bays. In early 1985, LSU biologists conducted a study into the possibility of developing a fishery for them. Before that could occur, however, the great Christmas freeze of 1989 severely reduced the number of stone crabs in Louisiana’s coastal waters. Since then, stone crab numbers have increased to more than before 1989. Modest numbers are landed in some parts of the state for sale in the wholesale trade or for retail sales directly to the public. In some areas, numbers are high enough for recreational crabbers to target. The stone crab found in Louisiana is officially known as the Gulf stone crab, Menippe adina. It is very closely related to the Florida stone crab, Menippe mercenaria, but smaller, with some color differences. The Gulf stone crab has a dark brown body, compared to the tan or gray color of the Florida stone crab, and it doesn’t have bands or stripes around its legs like the Florida stone crab. The ranges of the two species overlap in the area of Apalachee Bay, Florida, where they hybridize. Gulf stone crabs seem to prefer slightly higher salinities than blue crabs, from full strength sea water at 35 parts per thousand (ppt) down to 10 ppt. They seem to prefer areas near or on oyster reefs, rock jetties or debris-cluttered bottoms, where they burrow in the mud for shelter, cold weather refuge and when molting their shell. -
VITAE HARRIET MACGILL PERRY 872-4218 (Work)
VITAE HARRIET MACGILL PERRY 872-4218 (work) PRESENT POSITION: Director, Center for Fisheries Research and Development, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi 39564; Assistant Professor, Department of Coastal Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi EDUCATION: B.S., Biology, Florida State University, 1965. M.S., Zoology, University of Southern Mississippi, 1971. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE January 2000 to Present: Director, Center for Fisheries Research and Development, Institute of Marine Science, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, The University of Southern Mississippi. July 1998 to Present: Assistant Professor, Department of Coastal Sciences, Institute of Marine Science, The University of Southern Mississippi. October 1979 to Present: Research Biologist, Fisheries Research and Development, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi. August 1968 to September 1979: Bio-technician, Fisheries Research and Development, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi. MAJOR RESEARCH INTERESTS Fishery development, management of marine fisheries, blue crab aquaculture, population dynamics of estuarine and marine invertebrates, invertebrate taxonomy, invasive species. Gulf Guardian Award, The Alabama/Mississippi Rapid Assessment Program. PROCEEDINGS/BOOK CHAPTERS Co-editor - Proceedings of the Blue Crab Colloquium, Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, 1982. Editor - Profile of the Blue Crab Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, 1984. Co-editor - Proceedings of the National Symposium of the Soft-Shelled Blue Crab Fishery, Southeast Marine Advisory Service Network and Sea Grant Mid-Atlantic Advisory Service Network, 1985. Co-editor - The Blue Crab Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico, United States: A Regional Management Plan. Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, 1990. Co-editor - A Profile of the Western Gulf Stone Crab, Menippe adina. -
Fishery Bulletin/U S Dept of Commerce National Oceanic
LARVAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE CUBAN STONE CRAB, MENlPPE NODlFRONS (BRACHYURA, XANTHIDAE), UNDER LABORATORY CONDITIONS WITH NOTES ON THE STATUS OF THE FAMILY MENIPPIDAE1 LumInA E. SCO,I'02 ABSTRACT The complete larval development of the Cuban stone crab, Menippc nodifrons, is described and illustrated. Larvae reared in the laboratory passed through a prezoeal, five and uncommonly six zoeal, and one megalopal stage. At 30" C the megalopal stage was attained in 16-17 clays, at 20" C, 28-37 days. The six zoeal stages of M. nodifrons are compared with those of its sympatric congener M. mcrc<'!laria and with the first zoeal stage of the Indo-Pacific species M. rumphii. Larvae ofthe genus Menippe may be distinguished from other xanthid larvae by a combination of morphological features, including lilltennal development (exopodite at least three-fourths the length ofprotopoditel, lack of setae on the basal segment of the second maxillipL'<!al endopodite, and number oflarval stages (Menippe, 5 or 6; most other xanthids, 4). Using Lebour's criteria (emphasizing antenna! development and number of zoeal stages) to determine the primitive or advancL'<! status of decapod larvae, the genus Menippe is more closely related to the phylogentically primitive family Cancriclae than to most of the Xanthidae. The possible reestablishment of the family Menippidae is discussed in view of new larval evidence. The Cuban stone crab, MCllippe llodij'rolls tions of West Africa (Capart 1951; Monod 1956), a Stimpson 1859, is a medium-sized xanthid crab survey of stomatopod and decapod crustaceans of closely allied to the common commercial stone Portuguese Guiana (Vilela ]951), and an ecologi crab, MCllippc I/lcrcenaria (Say 18] 8). -
Original Stone Crab Fishery Management Plan
FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN for the STONE CRAB FISHERY of the GULF OF MEX ICO GULF OF MEXICO FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL Tampa, Florida Prepared by a Gulf Council Task Team directed by the Southeast Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service M;ami, Flor;da 33149 .. 1\ ,, 1\' '."~~ f,'. 1. PREFACE This fishery management plan for stone crabs, Menippe mercenaria and M. nodifrons was prepared for the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council by a task team directed by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The following were members of the task team: Tom Costello (Task team leader) Southeast Fisheries Center Miami, Florida Theresa M. Bert Yale University Department of Biology New Haven. Connecticut David G. Cartano University of Miami Coral Gables. Florida Gary Davis (Task team leader for biological aspects of thfs plan) Everglades National Park Homestead, Florida Gale Lyon (Task team leader for economics of this plan) Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council Tampa. Florida Charles Rockwood Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida John Stevely Florida Cooperative Extension Service Key West, Florida Joseph Tashiro Southeast Fisheries Center Miami Laboratory Miami, Florida W. Lee Trent National Marine Fisheries Service Panama City, Florida Donna Turgeon Marine Science Consortium Wallops Islands, Virginia James Zuboy Southeast Fisheries Center Miami, Florida i 2. SUMMARY This is a plan to manage the stone crab resources of the Gulf of Mexico. A1 though the pl an considers. the resource throughout its range from Florida to Texas, the area which will be regulated under this plan is confined to the waters of the West Coast of Florida, including the Keys, in the Fishery Conservation Zone (9 nautical to 200 miles). -
ABSTRACT RINDONE, RICHARD RYAN. Predator-Prey Dynamics
ABSTRACT RINDONE, RICHARD RYAN. Predator-prey Dynamics between Recently Established Stone Crabs (Menippe spp.) and Oyster Prey (Crassostrea virginica). (Under the direction of David B. Eggleston). Range expansion and population establishment of individual species can have significant impacts on previously established food webs and predator-prey dynamics. The stone crab (Menippe spp.) is found throughout southwestern North Atlantic waters, from North Carolina through the Gulf of Mexico and the Central American Caribbean, and including the Greater Antilles. Recent observations suggest that stone crabs have become better established on certain oyster reefs in North Carolina than in the early 1900’s when they we first observed in NC. To assess the predatory impact of stone crabs on oysters, we (1) quantified stone crab densities on subtidal oyster reefs in Pamlico Sound, NC using scuba diver surveys, and (2) conducted laboratory predation experiments to assess the functional response of stone crabs to varying densities of oysters. We then (3) analyzed previously unpublished functional response data on another important oyster predator, the mud crab Panopeus herbstii. Finally, we (4) compared and contrasted potential predatory impacts of stone, mud and blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus). The functional response data and analyses for stone crabs was consistent with either a type I or II functional response, whereas mud crabs exhibited a type I functional response. Mud crabs, on a m2 basis, inflicted the highest proportional mortality on oysters over a 24 hour period, followed by stone and then blue crabs. Proportional mortality did not vary significantly with oyster size; however, relatively small and large oysters were consumed disproportionately less than medium- sized oysters, likely due to the mechanical inability of stone crabs to handle small oysters, and the inability to crush large oysters. -
(Callinectes Sapidus) and Stone Crab E-ISSN 2358-2936 (Menippe Mercenaria) Jen L
Nauplius ORIGINAL ARTICLE THE JOURNAL OF THE Grooming behaviors and gill fouling in BRAZILIAN CRUSTACEAN SOCIETY the commercially important blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) and stone crab e-ISSN 2358-2936 www.scielo.br/nau (Menippe mercenaria) www.crustacea.org.br Jen L. Wortham1 orcid.org/0000-0002-4890-5410 Stephanie Pascual1 1 College of Natural and Health Sciences, University of Tampa, 401 West Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, FL, 33606, USA ZOOBANK http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:BB965881-F248-4121- 8DCA-26F874E0F12A ABSTRACT Grooming behaviors reduce fouling of body regions. In decapods, grooming time budgets, body regions groomed, and grooming appendages are known in several species; however, little data exists on brachyuran crabs. In this study, grooming behaviors of two commercially important crabs were documented (blue crabs: Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896; stone crabs: Menippe mercenaria Say, 1818). These crabs are harvested by fishermen and knowing their grooming behaviors is valuable, as clean crabs are preferred by consumers and the stone crab fishery consequence of removing one cheliped to grooming behaviors is unknown. Crabs were observed individually and agonistically to determine how grooming behaviors vary in the presence of another conspecific. Both species frequently use their maxillipeds and groom, with the gills being cleaned by epipods. Respiratory and sensory structures were groomed frequently in both species. Removal of a grooming appendage resulted in higher fouling levels in the gills, indicating that grooming behaviors do remove fouling. Overall, stone crabs had a larger individual time budget for grooming, but agonistic grooming time budgets were similar. Stone crab chelipeds are used in grooming, especially cleaning the other cheliped. -
Proceedings of the American Lobster Transferable Trap Workshop
Special Report No. 75 of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Proceedings of the American Lobster Transferable Trap Workshop October 2002 Proceedings of the American Lobster Transferable Trap Workshop October 2002 Edited by Heather M. Stirratt Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Convened by: Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission August 26, 2002 Washington, DC Proceedings of the American Lobster Transferable Trap Workshop ii Preface This document was prepared in cooperation with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board, Technical Committee, Plan Development Team, Stock Assessment Subcommittee and the Advisory Panel. A report of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission pursuant to U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Award No. NA17FG2205. Proceedings of the American Lobster Transferable Trap Workshop iii Acknowledgments This report is the result of a Workshop on transferable trap programs for American lobster which was held on August 26, 2002, in Washington, DC. The workshop was convened and organized by a Workshop Steering Committee composed of: David Spencer (Advisory Panel, Chair), George Doll (New York Commercial Lobsterman, Advisory Panel Member), John Sorlien (Rhode Island Commercial Lobsterman, Advisory Panel Member), Todd Jesse (Massachusetts Commercial Lobsterman, Advisory Panel Member), Ernie Beckwith (Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection), Mark Gibson (Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management), -
Crustacean Resources in The
Cover photos courtesy of The Southeastern Regional Taxonomic Center (SERTC), South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Research Needs for the Sustainable Management of Crustacean Resources in the South Atlantic Bight. Report from a workshop held at the Marine Resources Research Institute Charleston, South Carolina April 9-10, 2014 Authored by Jeff Brunson, Peter Kingsley-Smith, John Leffler, Blaik Keppler, Amy Fowler, Larry DeLancey and David Whitaker. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 RATIONALE AND OVERVIEW OF WORKSHOP 6 LIST OF WORKSHOP ATTENDEES 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 8 WORKSHOP AGENDA 9 IDENTIFICATION OF RESEARCH PRIORITIES 10 Blue crabs Disease 10 Habitat Condition and Loss 11 Climate Change 12 Stock Assessment 14 Penaeid shrimp Disease 16 Habitat Condition and Loss 18 Climate Change 19 Stock Assessment 21 Commercial Fisheries 22 Horseshoe crabs Disease 23 Habitat Condition and Loss 23 Climate Change 24 Stock Assessment 24 Fishery and Industry Practices 25 Stone crabs Hybrids 25 Disease 25 Habitat Condition and Loss 26 Climate Change 26 Stock Assessment 26 Fishery Practices 27 RESOURCE MANAGER PANEL SUMMARY 28 AREAS OF EXPERTISE OF WORKSHOP ATTENDEES 30 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY While the management authority for crustacean fisheries generally resides with individual states, crustacean resources are often interconnected within the region of the South Atlantic Bight. Declines among certain economically-important crustacean fisheries (i.e., blue crabs and shrimp) have been reported for both fishery-dependent and fishery-independent data region-wide since 2000. This workshop provided an opportunity for state resource managers and researchers to discuss issues affecting those fisheries and to attempt to identify approaches and resources for addressing the concerns raised. -
Stone Crab Menippe Mercenaria Contributor: Elizabeth Wenner, Ph.D
Stone Crab Menippe mercenaria Contributor: Elizabeth Wenner, Ph.D. DESCRIPTION Taxonomy and Basic Description Photo: Southeastern Regional Taxonomic Center The stone crab is a true crab in the Family Xanthidae. The xanthid family of crabs is commonly called mud crabs. This is a highly diverse family characterized by having a body that is transversely oval or hexagonal and a broad front without rostrum. The last pair of legs is unmodified (Williams 1984). The shell of the stone crab is nearly smooth to the unaided eye and transversely oval with the front broad and notched centrally. The lateral margins of the carapace are divided into four lobes. The pincers are large and heavy, unequal in size and nearly smooth. The inside of the palm has a patch of fine, oblique and parallel striations. The walking legs are stout and hairy toward the end (Williams 1984). The claws of the stone crab are asymmetrical; there is a major or crusher claw and a minor or pincer claw. Only the claw of a stone crab is harvested and a legal size claw has a propodus base measurement of more than 70 mm (2.75 inches) (SCDNR 2005). In South Carolina, only the larger of the two claws may be taken (SCDNR 2005). The color of juveniles is generally dark purplish-blue, often with a white spot occurring on the inner carpus. Juveniles also exhibit three prominent white spots in the form of an inverted triangle on the carapace. Older individuals vary in color from brown to green on the anterior half of the carapace, with tan to cream coloration on the posterior half. -
Caribbean Spiny Lobster Belize Pots, Diving
Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus ©Scandinavian Fishing Yearbook/www.scandposters.com Belize Pots, Diving December 19, 2018 Seafood Watch Consulting Researcher Disclaimer Seafood Watch® strives to have all Seafood Reports reviewed for accuracy and completeness by external scientists with expertise in ecology, fisheries science and aquaculture. Scientific review, however, does not constitute an endorsement of the Seafood Watch program or its recommendations on the part of the reviewing scientists. Seafood Watch is solely responsible for the conclusions reached in this report. Seafood Watch Standard used in this assessment: Standard for Fisheries vF3 Table of Contents About. Seafood. .Watch . 3. Guiding. .Principles . 4. Summary. 5. Final. Seafood. .Recommendations . 7. Introduction. 8. Assessment. 12. Criterion. 1:. .Impacts . on. the. Species. Under. Assessment. .12 . Criterion. 2:. .Impacts . on. Other. Species. .17 . Criterion. 3:. .Management . Effectiveness. .23 . Criterion. 4:. .Impacts . on. the. Habitat. .and . Ecosystem. .33 . Acknowledgements. 39. References. 40. Appendix. A:. Extra. .By . Catch. .Species . 49. 2 About Seafood Watch Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program evaluates the ecological sustainability of wild-caught and farmed seafood commonly found in the United States marketplace. Seafood Watch defines sustainable seafood as originating from sources, whether wild-caught or farmed, which can maintain or increase production in the long-term without jeopardizing the structure or function of affected ecosystems. Seafood Watch makes its science-based recommendations available to the public in the form of regional pocket guides that can be downloaded from www.seafoodwatch.org. The program’s goals are to raise awareness of important ocean conservation issues and empower seafood consumers and businesses to make choices for healthy oceans. -
Commercial Florida Stone Crab Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico States
Commercial Florida Stone Crab Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico States Florida stone crabs (Menippe mercenaria, Say, 1818, Fig. 1) inhabit U.S. waters from North Carolina south to Florida. They live in burrows from the shoreline to 200 feet water depth. They are harvested for their claws primarily with baited traps. The fishery takes place mainly in Florida state waters. Thus, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission manages the fishery. The season runs from October 15 through May 15 (Fig. 2). By Florida law, the larger, immovable part of the claw must measure at least 2¾ inches for harvest. It takes about 3 to 4 years for crabs to reach this size. It is illegal to harvest claws from females that are carrying eggs. Depending on their size, female crabs can produce thousands to millions of eggs in a single spawning season (in Florida waters, April – September). Female stone crabs have a wide, round abdomen, while males have a long, narrow abdomen. Stone crabs regenerate lost claws by molting. It takes approximately three molts (three years) for an adult to regenerate a claw to about 95% of the original claw’s size. However, stone crabs can only regenerate a Figure 1. Extension associate Amanda Jefferson holding a lost claw if the joint between the body and live Florida stone crab. the claw is intact. To forage effectively, crabs missing both claws change their feeding strategy from predator to scavenger. Davis et al. (1978) reported that nearly half of crabs with both claws removed died. Stone crabs are estimated to live 7 to 9 years, but crabs in fished populations probably have a shorter lifespan. -
Larval Growth
LARVAL GROWTH Edited by ADRIAN M.WENNER University of California, Santa Barbara OFFPRINT A.A.BALKEMA/ROTTERDAM/BOSTON DARRYL L.FELDER* / JOEL W.MARTIN** / JOSEPH W.GOY* * Department of Biology, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, USA ** Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA PATTERNS IN EARLY POSTLARVAL DEVELOPMENT OF DECAPODS ABSTRACT Early postlarval stages may differ from larval and adult phases of the life cycle in such characteristics as body size, morphology, molting frequency, growth rate, nutrient require ments, behavior, and habitat. Primarily by way of recent studies, information on these quaUties in early postlarvae has begun to accrue, information which has not been previously summarized. The change in form (metamorphosis) that occurs between larval and postlarval life is pronounced in some decapod groups but subtle in others. However, in almost all the Deca- poda, some ontogenetic changes in locomotion, feeding, and habitat coincide with meta morphosis and early postlarval growth. The postmetamorphic (first postlarval) stage, here in termed the decapodid, is often a particularly modified transitional stage; terms such as glaucothoe, puerulus, and megalopa have been applied to it. The postlarval stages that fol low the decapodid successively approach more closely the adult form. Morphogenesis of skeletal and other superficial features is particularly apparent at each molt, but histogenesis and organogenesis in early postlarvae is appreciable within intermolt periods. Except for the development of primary and secondary sexual organs, postmetamorphic change in internal anatomy is most pronounced in the first several postlarval instars, with the degree of anatomical reorganization and development decreasing in each of the later juvenile molts.