The Blue Crab: Callinectes Sapidus

By L. E. Cronin, V. Kennedy. 2007

138 citations recorded by the source corpus.

In the United States the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) ranges from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico and are most common from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to the most southern end of Texas. Blue crabs occur regularly in waters where peak temperatures reach at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The blue crab is common to all North Carolina coastal waters, but most reside in the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds and their tributaries. Blue crabs mature at approximately 12 to 18 months of age and have an average lifespan of three years with some living as long as eight years. Mating occurs in brackish areas of the estuary and lower portions of the rivers from late spring to early fall, and spawning occurs in high-salinity waters near the ocean inlets from early summer to fall. The first larval stage is carried offshore by ocean currents where they undergo several stages of development. Settlement of larval blue crabs occurs in the estuaries after winds and tides transport them through the inlets from the ocean. Once within the estuary, larval blue crabs settle in beds of submerged aquatic vegetation and other complex habitats, like salt marsh and oyster shell, where they become juvenile blue crabs. Juvenile blue crabs gradually migrate to lower salinity waters in the upper estuaries and rivers to grow (molt) and mature. Molting is a process of growth in blue crabs that requires shedding the hard exoskeleton (shell). Following each molt the shell is soft for several hours until it hardens, during this time the crab is • Life History

Subfields: Aquatic Science, Ecology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/fb804899d26ddcc0f9e08fbdc9ed623e3c55eeb9

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

  1. N. Walker
  2. Ana C. Garcia
  3. Wendy L Morrison
  4. M. Sutor
  5. N. Rabalais
  6. S. Bargu
  7. P. Dash
  8. J. Craig

Citations in the corpus