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Distribution of red deepsea crab 
(Chaceon quinquedens ) by size 
and sex in the Gulf of Mexico 
Morgan J. Kilgour (contact author) 
Thomas C. Shirley 
Email address for M. J. Kilgour: Morgan.Kilgour@tamucc.edu 
Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies 
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi 
6300 Ocean Drive, Unit 5869 
Corpus Christi, Texas 78412-5869 
The red deepsea crab ( Chaceon 
quinquedens (Smith, 1879)) has sup- 
ported a commercial fishery off the 
coast of New England since the 1970s 
(Wigley et al., 1975) and has had 
annual harvests from 400 metric tons 
(t) (1996) to 4000 t (2001) (NEFMC, 
2002). In 2002, a fishery management 
plan for the northeast fishery on the 
Atlantic coast was implemented and 
total allowable catch was reduced 
to approximately 2500 t (NEFMC 
2002). Although there are manage- 
ment plans for the golden crab (C. 
fenneri) and the red deep sea crab 
for Atlantic coast regions, there is 
no fishery management plan for red 
deepsea crabs in the Gulf of Mexico. 
Successful management for sustain- 
able harvests should be based on a 
knowledge of the life history of the 
species, but C. quinquedens has been 
a difficult species for which to obtain 
life history and abundance informa- 
tion because of its deep distribution. 
Previous studies used trap surveys 
to estimate the relative abundance 
and distribution of C. quinquedens 
and almost all had similar results 
(Wigley et ah, 1975; Stone and Bailey, 
1980; Lockhart et al., 1990; Lindberg 
and Lockhart, 1993; Waller et al., 
1995; Trigg et al., 1997). Typically, 
C. quinquedens is found at depths 
from 100 to 2000 m (Haefner, 1978; 
Hastie, 1995) in the western Atlantic 
Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico (Hae- 
fner and Musick, 1974). The largest 
populations of C. quinquedens are 
found on soft sediments along the 
continental slope (Lindberg and Lock- 
hart, 1993). Red deepsea crabs typi- 
cally are found in progressively shal- 
lower depths as they increase with 
size (Wigley et al., 1975; Trigg et 
al., 1997), and this finding indicates 
that the megalopae, after settling in 
deeper water, move up the continen- 
tal slope as they grow. Bathymetric 
sexual segregation has been reported 
for many of the Chaceon species, in- 
cluding C. quinquedens (McElman 
and Elner, 1982; Lockhart et al., 
1990). Females typically are found 
in shallower waters than those that 
males inhabit (Wigley et al., 1975; 
Lockhart et al., 1990), although fe- 
males have also been found at depths 
similar to those of males (Wenner et 
al., 1987). 
In previous studies, C. fenneri and 
C. quinquedens were found to have 
similar distributions. However, most 
studies in which this comparison was 
made had relatively larger collections 
of C. fenneri than C. quinquedens 
(Lockhart et al., 1990; Lindberg and 
Lockhart, 1993). The two congeners 
may be expected to have similar dis- 
tribution patterns because of their ge- 
netic and morphological similarities; 
however, assumptions made about the 
distribution of C. quinquedens based 
on the distribution of C. fenneri may 
lead to inappropriate management 
strategies. Similarly, populations of 
crabs in the Gulf of Mexico and Mid- 
dle Atlantic Bight may use habitat 
differently and further investigation 
is warranted (Lockhart et al., 1990). 
Depth limitations of prior surveys 
have indicated that juveniles may 
not have been sampled, as evidenced 
by the depth-limited NEFSC (North- 
east Fisheries Science Center) 400 
m surveys from 1964 to 1999 where 
fewer than six crabs smaller than 7- 
cm carapace width were captured per 
tow (Steimle et al., 2001). 
Chaceon quinquedens is closely re- 
lated to C. fenneri (Weinberg et al., 
2003). However, C. fenneri is tan and 
found at shallower depths than the 
red C. quinquedens (Lockhart et al., 
1990; Lindberg and Lockhart, 1993). 
Commonly, when one species of Cha- 
ceon is studied, data are extrapo- 
lated to other congeners because of 
a limited sample of those congeners 
or because data have not yet been 
collected for the congeners. Most of 
the life history patterns that have 
been attributed to C. quinquedens 
have been attributed because of its 
close relationship with C. fenneri. 
Little or no genetic difference be- 
tween C. fenneri and C. quinquedens 
populations was found in the east- 
ern Straits of Florida and the Gulf of 
Mexico (Weinberg et al., 2003). The 
hypothesis was that the distribution 
of C. quinquedens would be similar 
to the distribution observed for C. 
fenneri in previous studies. To ex- 
amine this hypothesis, we compared 
the size distribution and sex distribu- 
tion of C. quinquedens near six ship- 
wrecks at varying depths in the Gulf 
of Mexico. Because fish communities 
around these shipwrecks were being 
examined at the time, we took the 
opportunity to explore red deepsea 
crab distributions. 
Materials and methods 
From July 29 to August 16, 2004, six 
World War II era shipwrecks were 
surveyed with the remotely operated 
vehicle (ROV) XL-11 deployed from 
the HOS Dominator in the Gulf of 
Mexico. The shipwrecks were located 
Manuscript submitted 2 July 2007. 
Manuscript accepted 19 February 2008. 
Fish. Bull 106:317-320 (2008). 
The views and opinions expressed or 
implied in this article are those of the 
author and do not necessarily reflect 
the position of the National Marine 
Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
