and was at liberty for four molt seasons indi- 

 cates at least one triennial molt period. 



Other returns indicate rapid growth among 

 smaller crabs — witness the 2-, 3-, and 4- 

 year returns near 100 mm.; the 1-year return 

 at 124 mm,; and the 4-year return at 135 mm. 

 A crab that was 185 mm. in carapace length 

 when released was recovered after five molt 

 seasons and grew 36 mm. Its measurements 

 at the time of recapture were 221 mm. cara- 

 pace length and 265 mm. carapace width. To 

 our knowledge this crab was equal in width 

 and was only 3 mm. less in length than the 

 largest king crab ever measured by biologists 

 in Alaska. 



LITERATURE CITED 



ALASKA FISHERIES BOARD AND ALASKA 

 DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES. 

 1955. Alaska Department of Fisheries An- 

 nual Report for 1954. Alaska Fisheries 

 Board and Alaska Department of Fish- 

 eries, Report No. 6, 92 p. 



BRIGHT, DONALD B., FLOYD E. DURHAM, 

 and JENS W. KNUDSEN. 

 1960. King crab investigations of Cook 

 Inlet, Alaska. Department of Biology, 

 Allan Hancock Foundation, University of 

 Southern California at Los Angeles, 

 180 p. [Processed.] 



SUMMARY 



1. In July and August 1957, 1,999 male 

 king crabs were tagged in the Shumagin 

 Islands-False Pass area south of the Alaska 

 Peninsula. 



2. Through August 15, 1962, 277 tags were 

 returned. 



3. No recoveries were made in the Bering 

 Sea. 



4. Local movements south of the Peninsula 

 were principally from offshore tagging loca- 

 tions to inshore fishing locations in protected 

 waters. 



5. More than 90 percent of the returns 

 showed migrations of less than 35 miles. 

 Maximum migrations were about 110 miles. 



6. Growth for commercial- sized males was 

 near 17 mm. per molt. Biennial and triennial 

 molt periods were indicated for large crabs. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



The staff of the King Crab Investigations, 

 Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Biological 

 Laboratory, Seattle, Wash., performed the 

 original tagging work for this study. Person- 

 nel of the Alaska Department of Fish and 

 Game collected many of the tag returns, and 

 for this effort, thanks are due especially to 

 Guy C. Powell and Glen Davenport. 



HAYES, MURRAY L. 



In press. King crab tagging methods in 

 Alaska. International Commission for 

 the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, Spe- 

 cial Publication Series. 



JOHNSON, HAROLD C. 



1959, King crab, shrimp, and bottom fish 

 explorations from Shumagin Islands to 

 Unalaska, Alaska, summer and fall, 

 1957. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 Commercial Fisheries Review, vol. 21, 

 no. 3 (March), p. 7-19. [Also as Separate 

 No. 543.] 



POWELL, GUY C. 



1960. Investigation of the growth rates of 

 king crab in the Kodiak area. Alaska 

 Department of Fish and Game, 43 p. 

 [Processed.] 



U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE. 



1942. The Alaskan king crab. U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, Fishery Market News, 

 vol. 4, no. 5a, May 1942 Supplement, 

 108 p. 



WEBER, DOUGLAS D., and TAKASHI 



MIYAHARA. 



1961. Growth of the adult male king crab 



Paralithodes camtschatica (Tilesius). 



U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fishery 



Bulletin 200, vol. 62, p. 53-76. 



MS #1295 



GPO 9 43- 268 



