100 



Part III. — Eighteenth Annual Report 



undersized crabs were recorded for 30 catches, 188 were males and 202 

 females, giving for each 100 females 93 males. 



In respect of the gauge crabs, of the total of 5690 Dunbar crabs the 

 males numbered 2916 and the females 2774, a proportion to every 100 

 females of 105 males. At Crail, of 4458 crabs, 2644 were males and 

 1814 females; the preponderance of the males was more marked than 

 at Dunbar, 100 females being accompanied by 146 males. The Crail 

 statistics suffer in one respect, namely, that the crab fishing is not 

 carried on after September. There are therefore no statistics for the 

 winter months, when the proportion of females is probably to a slight 

 extent raised by the appearance in the creels of females which had 

 been berried during the first half of the year. The total number of 

 males and females among the beach crabs, and the undersized and 

 gauge crabs of the Dunbar and Crail catches, are given in Table VII.. 

 The number of males to 100 females in each case and each locality is 

 recorded. If the crabs from Dunbar and Crail are added together we 

 get slightly different results — viz., for the undersized crabs 133 males to 

 100 females, and for the gauge specimens 121 males for 100 females. 

 While, then, in the small crabs of the beach measuring from \ up to 3J 

 inches there appears to be a slight majority in females, in the adult 

 creel crabs the majority is on the side of the males. 



There remains the question as to w T hether or not there are during the 

 year seasons when the numbers of the male sex usually predominate in 

 the catshes of the fishermen, and other seasons when female crabs are 

 in the majority. Thus Meek * says, on the evidence of Mr. Douglas, 

 Beaxlnell : — " There is a majority of male crabs early in the year, but 

 this majority is small, and continues so up to the end of April ; in 

 July and x\.ugust the majority of females is very great, and this is the 

 case until the end of September, when the male leaves the female." 

 According to Wilson,t "almost all the market crabs taken towards the 

 end of the year are females ; . after the end of January there 



is frequently a great excess of males in the creaves." Cunningham % 

 found among the market crabs of Cornwall (Cadgwith) a majority of 

 females. The number of males, which is small at the beginning of the 

 crab -fishing season (May to end of September), increases to a maximum 

 in June and then declines. Cunningham institutes a correlation 

 between the numbers of male crabs caught and the temperature of the 

 sea water. He supposes the decline in the numbers of the males in 

 July and August to be in consequence of their sexual activity at that 

 season. 



In the Crail catches (Table VII.) it is seen that in each month from 

 February to September there was among those of gauge size a majority 

 of male crabs, and this was the case in each catch with the exception of 

 two, in which the female crabs were slightly more numerous. One 

 catch in April consisted of 113 males and 119 females; another in 

 August was composed of 21 males and 27 females. In the case of the 

 Dunbar catches (Table V.) there is, however, much diversity in the 

 proportions of the tw T o sexes. Two catches in the same month in some 

 cases do not show the same relation. For example, of the two 

 February catches, in one there is a majority of males ; in the other the 

 females are the more numerous. A similar relatron is seen between 

 the two catches in July. According to Wilson, the females are in the 

 majority in autumn and winter. In two Dunbar catches in November 

 the males are in the majority among the hard market crabs, and also 



* Op. tit., 1898, p. 29. 



t Op. tit., 1893, p. 6, and 1895, p. 5. 



X Op. ext., p. 4. 



