Appendage Injury in Male Crabs 



30 



25 



in 



01 



oi 



(O 



c 



01 



a. 

 a. 



< 



B 



A ppendage Injury in Fe m ale Crabs 



m 



01 

 C31 



ID 

 T3 



C 

 01 

 Q 



30 



Figure 1. — Monthly percentages of male (A) and female (B) Dungeness crabs with injured (missing + regenerating + damaged) 



chelipeds and walking legs. 



•o 



9 



60- 



50- 



4 0- 



30- 



20- 



1 0- 



FISHING 



d" MOLTING 



9 MOLTING 



J 



FISHIlie 



1 15 31 

 May 



—I 1 — T"^ — I n — I 1 1 



15 30 15 31 15 31 15 30 15 31 

 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct 



s 

 s 



s 

 S 

 s 

 s 

 s 



N 



s 

 s 

 s 

 \ 

 \ 

 \ 

 \ 



15 30 

 Nov 



Males 



l\\l Females 



Figure 2. — Temporal relationships of percentages of male and female Dun- 

 geness crabs with injured (missing + regenerating + damaged) append- 

 ages to the crabs' molting and mating periods and the commercial crab 

 fishing season in southeastern Alaska. 



were sometimes observed grasping other crabs, 

 but very few autotomized limbs were found in the 

 tanks. 



The estimate of appendage injury may be low if 

 Dungeness crabs with injured appendages were 

 less likely to enter pots than intact crabs. In an- 

 other study, the observed number of Carcinus 



maenas missing 2 or more legs was higher than 

 expected if multiple autotomies occurred by 

 chance, which was interpreted to mean that in- 

 jured C. maenas enter pots as readily as intact 

 crabs (McVean 1976). Because there were more 

 Dungeness crabs with 2 or more missing legs in 

 our collections than would be expected if multiple 



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