grated from the St. Johns River to the Intracoastal 

 Waterway, to four other rivers, and to the ocean. 



Females tagged in the ocean off the month of the 

 river were recaptured in the St. Johns River and 

 other inland waters; in addition widespread recov- 

 eries were made in the oc«an. 



Time between tagging and recoveries indicated 

 that relatively few blue crabs live longer than 1 

 year after becoming adults. Maximiun age is about 

 4 years. 



Zoeae — primarily first stage but some second — 

 and megaloi^s of crabs of the genus CalTinecteH 

 were collected in the river as far as 40 km. from the 

 mouth. Zoeae were present in April to Octoljer. Of 

 22 kinds of crab zoeae collected near the mouth, 

 CaWmeefefi ranked third in abundance in 1961 and 

 second in 1962. 



Early crab stages (2-9 mm. wide) entered lower 

 river areas primarily in waves Avhich started 5 or 

 more months after spawning began and continued 

 to the end of the year. Most individuals in these 

 waves were beyond the initial crab stages except 

 during early winter. The time of the first waves 

 was later in 1963 than in 1962, probably because 

 of the later spawning season in 1963. Influx of 

 early crab stages was not confined to the lower 

 river Init extended 95 km. and more upstream. 



Juvenile crabs of many sizes were widely dis- 

 tributed but were concentrated the year around in 

 certain localities. Those less than 40 mm. wide 

 were most common in shallower waters. Juvenile 

 females outnumbered juvenile males in the lower 

 river, but the percentage of males increased with 

 distance upstream. 



Crabs 5 to 200 mm. wide fed j^rincipally on mol- 

 lusks (primarily clams and mussels), fish, and 

 crustaceans (mostly amphipods and crabs). Lesser 

 amounts of plants, annelids (almost all Nerds 

 ■pelag'/ca), insects, and bryozoans were eaten. 

 Usually the same types of foods were taken by all 

 sizes of crabs and at all areas sampled. Crabs often 

 ate the same foods during different seasons and 

 generally consumed the most available foods. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Cargo, David G. 



1958. The migration of adult female blue crabs, 

 f'alliiicch.i Kdiiiiliis Katlihuii, in Chiiicoteague Bay 

 and adjacent waters. J. Mar. Bes. 16: 180-191. 



32 



Carriker, Melbourne Romaine. 



1951. Observations on the penetration of tightl.v 

 closed bivalves b.v Riiniiron and other predators. 

 Ecology 32 : 73-83. 



Chtjrchill, E. p. Jr. 



1919. Life history of the blue crab. Bull. U.S. Bur. 

 Fish. 36 : 91-128. 

 CosTLOw, John D., Jr., and C. G. Bookhout. 



19.59. The larval development of Callinectes sapidus 

 Rathbun reared in the laboratory. Biol. Bull. 116 : 

 373-396. 

 Cronin, L. Eugene. 



1949. Comparison of methods of tagging the blue 



crab. Ecology 30 : 390-394. 

 1954. Blue crab studies. In Bien. Rep. 1953 and 1954, 

 Mar. Lab., Dep. Biol. Scl., Univ. Del., Publ. 2: 

 65-70. 

 Darnell, Rezneat M. 



1958. Food habits of fishes and larger invertebrates 

 of Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, an estuarine 

 community. Publ. Inst. Mar. Sci., Univ. Tex., 5: 

 353-^16. 



1959. Studies of the life history of the blue crab 

 {Callinectes sapidus Rathbun) in Louisiana waters. 

 Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 88: 294-^04. 



Daughbrtt, F. M., Jr., 



1952. The blue crab investigation, 1949-50. Tex. J. 

 Sci. 4 : 77-84. 



Fiedler, R. H. 



1930. Solving the question of crab migrations. Fish. 

 Gaz. 47 : 18-21. 



FiSOHLER, K. J. 



1959. Occurrence of extremely small ovigerous crabs 

 (Callinectes sp.) in coastal North Carolina. Ecol- 

 ogy 40 : 720. 

 FiscHLER, Kenneth J., and Charles H. Walbueq. 



1962. Blue crab movement in coastal South Carolina, 

 1958-59. Trans. Amer. Pish. Soc. 91 : 275-278. 



Hat, W. p. 



1905. The life history of the blue crab (Callinectes 

 sapidus). [U.S.] Bur. Pish. Rep., 1904: 395-413. 

 LuNZ, G. Robert, Jr. 



1947. Callinectes versus Ostrea. J. Elisha Mitchell 

 Sci. Soc. 63 : 81. 



Moody, Harold L. 



1963. St. Johns River. Fla. Wildl. 17 (2 and 3) : 

 Part 1, 116-23: Part 2, 20-27. 



Nichols, Paul R., and Pexjgt M. Keneiy. 



1963. Crab larvae (Callinectes), in plankton col- 

 lections from cruises of M/V Theodore N. Gill, 

 South Atlantic coast of the United States, 1953-54. 

 U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Spec. Sci. Rep. Fish. 448, 

 14 pp. 



Odum, Howard T. 



1953. Factors controlling marine invasion into 

 Florida fresh waters. Bull. Mar. Sci. Gulf Carib. 

 3 : 134^156. 



Pbiarson, John C. 



1948. Fluctuations in the abundance of the blue 

 crab in Chesapeake Bay. [U.S.] Fish Wildl. Serv., 

 Res. Rep. 14, 26 pp. 



U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



