410 EEPOET OF THE COMMISSIONEE OF FISHERIES. 



estuary. These young crabs have almost certainh^ hatched from the 

 egg the preceding fall, for it is then, in the months of August and 

 September, that egg-bearing females, " blooming crabs,'' in the fisher- 

 men's vernacular, are most a))undant in the extreme lower part of the 

 bay. 



Once having established itself in a congenial location, the young- 

 crab probably remains there until it has attained its growth. It has 

 been stated that three years is required for this ^' and that the young- 

 crab sheds its shell twice each summer before it reaches its full size. 

 It is quite possible, however, and such evidence as I have been able to 

 collect makes it seem probable, that in Chesapeake Bay, at least, the 

 growth of the young crab is more rapid and that it may reach its full 

 size in at most two seasons. At Crisfield, where hundreds of thousands 

 of crabs are taken each summer and sent to market, the spring catch, 

 beginning in May, contains great numbers of small crabs from li to 2 

 inches across. By the next month they have reached 3 inches, and in 

 July individuals 4 inches across are the rule. In August and Septem-" 

 ber most of the females have reached a breadth of 6 inches and are 

 mature and ready for mating. It may be, of course, that this gradual 

 increase in the size of the individuals taken does not prove such a 

 rapid growth so much as an increased number of crabs on the bottoms 

 from which the fishermen can choose. There are always a certain 

 number of small crabs taken in the nets and thrown back into the 

 water again, but the number of small ones diminishes as the number of 

 large ones increases toward the end of summer. 



The duration of life of the crab after it has reached maturity is not 

 positively known, but it is very probable that it differs somewhat in 

 the two sexes. One observer, quoted by Miss Rathbun, gives seven 

 years as the limit of the crab's life without regard to sex and also says 

 that it does not molt after having reached maturity. The latter 

 statement is probablv correct, but the former can hardly be accepted 

 without proof. The evidence which has been collected seems to show 

 that the males will survive at least one winter and possibly two, for 

 large, full grown individuals are common throughout the winter and 

 in early spring and are often caught by the o.yster dredgers. These 

 large males do not shed their shells and are usually battered and more 

 or less covered with barnacles and even oysters. The females, on the 

 other hand, probably die soon after spawning, and therefore survive 

 the first winter only in case they have not copulated immediately 

 upon becoming mature. ' The evidence to support this statement is 

 perhaps not wholly satisfactory. No one .has, as far as I know, 

 followed the female crabs actually to see what becomes of them, but I 

 have been informed that at times the beaches along the lower part of the 



« Rathbun 1896, p. 369; also Paulmier 1901, p. r. 135. 



