WENNER ET AL.: EXPLORATION FOR GOLDEN CRAB 



193 mm and 2,109 g, respectively. These values 

 were markedly larger than those reported for red 

 crab in the vicinity of Norfolk Canyon (Haefner 

 1978), off northeastern United States (Wigley et 

 al. 1975), or the Scotian Shelf (Stone and Bailey 

 1980; McElman and Elner 1982). 



The small number of females collected during 

 the first year precludes any definitive statements 

 regarding ovarian cycles or spawning patterns. 

 Ovarian developmental stages are similar to 

 those reported by Haefner (1977) for G. quinque- 

 dens. We also found his use of vulvae condition as 

 an external indicator of copulation to be fairly 

 reliable, but examination of the seminal recepta- 

 cles for sperm or spermatophores provided the 

 only true indication of mating. Tentative inter- 

 pretations on ovarian development, vulval condi- 

 tion, and presence of seminal products suggest 

 that females may become sexually mature at 97 

 mm CW. Haefner (1977) suggested that female 

 G. quinquedens become sexually mature within 

 the intermolt size of 80-91 mm CW. 



A lack of ovigerous females in our first-year 

 sampling effort could be indicative of a restricted 

 spawning season similar to that reported for red 

 crab (Haefner 1977; Wigley et al. 1975). Absence 

 of ovigerous females from our samples, however, 

 may be related to the small number of female 

 golden crab collected. 



Observations on molting and mating of a fe- 

 male (110 mm CW), which had been held in a 

 refrigerated aquarium since February 1986 and 

 had completed ecdysis in late May 1986, con- 

 firmed that female golden crab molt just before 

 mating occurs. This behavior, as well as the ob- 

 served premolt embrace, has been described for G. 

 longipes (Mori and Relini 1979), although it has 

 not been reported previously for either G. quin- 

 quedens or G. fenneri. 



Stage of ecdysis is an important factor affecting 

 meat condition and yield in golden crab. Crabs 

 which have recently molted generally have a very 

 poor meat yield and are not marketable^. Since 

 most golden crab in the intermolt stage had 

 blackened abraded areas or poecilasmatid barna- 

 cles on the exoskeleton, their presence was useful 

 in distinguishing premolt from postmolt crabs 

 which were brighter in color and had few abra- 

 sions. 



8W. Lacy, Seafood Marketing Section, South Carolina 

 Wildlife and Marine Resources Department, Charleston, SC 

 29412, pers. commun. 1985. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



This project could not have been completed 

 without the assistance of numerous individuals 

 and organizations. 



We are most grateful to H. R. Beatty and 

 D. Oakley of SCWMRD who helped extensively 

 with all aspects of the project. Initial phases of 

 this project benefited from our discussions with 

 commercial fishermen H. Holley and J. Busse; 

 C. A. Wenner (SCWMRD); W. Rathjen (Florida 

 Institute of Technology); R. Manning (U.S. Na- 

 tional Museum of Natural History); and S. Otwell 

 (University of Florida). We also appreciate the 

 hospitality and information on the Bermuda fish- 

 ery provided by J. P. Ingham (Pathfinder Fish- 

 eries) and B. Luckhurst (Bureau of Agriculture 

 and Fisheries). We thank all colleagues who as- 

 sisted on cruises and the captains and crews of the 

 RV Oregon and RV Lady Lisa. Technical assis- 

 tance was provided by W. Roumillat for photo- 

 graphic preparations; B. Ashcraft (Medical Uni- 

 versity of South Carolina) for SEM preparations; 

 K. Swanson who drafted the figures; and M. Lentz 

 who typed the manuscript. Financial support for 

 this project was provided by the Gulf and South 

 Atlantic Fisheries Development Foundation 

 under contract 27-08-44394/79489, the Mar- 

 quette Foundation, the South Carolina Wildlife 

 and Marine Resources Department, and the 

 South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Beyers, C. J. de B , and G G. Wilke 



1980. Quantitative stock survey and some biological and 

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 Afr. 13:9-19. 



BuLLis, H. R., Jr., and W F. Rathjen. 



1959. Shrimp explorations off southeastern coast of the 

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 Christiansen, M. E 



1969. Crustacea Decapoda Brachyura, Mar. Invertebr. 

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 Ganz, a R., and F J. Herrmann 



1975. Investigations into the southern New England red 

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 Gerrior. P 



1981. The distribution and effects of fishing on the deep 

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Haefner. P. A., Jr., and J A Musick. 



1974. Observations on distribution and abundance of red 



559 



