Stevens and Guida: Biological parameters of Chaceon quinquedens in the Mid-Atlantic Bight 
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76'0‘0'’W 75»0’0"W 74°0’0"W 73'0'0"W 72”0'0"W 71'’0'0"W 
Figure. 1 
Locations of sampling sites for red deepsea crab {Chaceon quinque- 
dens) during cruises aboard the NOAA Ship Delaware II in the Mid- 
Atlantic Bight in 2011 and 2012 and aboard the NOAA Ship Gordon 
Gunter in 2013. The sites were Block Island Canyon (BIC), Hudson 
Canyon (Hud), Baltimore and Washington Canyons (BWC), and Nor- 
folk Canyon (Nor). 
to collect samples of red deepsea crab. Specific goals 
for research of red deepsea crab were to determine 1) 
the distribution of crab by sex, size, shell condition, 
depth, and temperature, 2) to obtain morphometric 
data for determination of sexual maturity, and 3) to 
collect specimens for studies of reproductive biology. 
This article presents information on distribution and 
morphometry of red deepsea crab collected during the 
3 NOAA cruises. 
Materials and methods 
Sampling locations 
Two research cruises were conducted aboard the NOAA 
Ship Delaware II (10-21 January 2011 and 21-30 Jan- 
uary 2012) and one cruise was completed aboard the 
NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter (5-8 July 2013). Red deep- 
sea crab were sampled in 4 general areas within the 
Mid-Atlantic Bight (defined as coastal waters along the 
U.S. Atlantic coast from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras), 
and stations were selected to cover a range of lati- 
tudes and depths: near Block Island Canyon (BIC), at 
the mouth of Hudson Canyon (Hud), on the continen- 
tal slope between Baltimore and Washington Canyons 
(BWC), and on the slope near Norfolk Canyon (Nor; 
Fig. 1). Actual locations within each site where trawl 
nets were hauled were chosen for their relatively flat 
contours within specified depth ranges (see below) af- 
ter reconnaissance with multibeam sonar. Goals of the 
cruise in 2011 were primarily focused on sampling fish; 
red deepsea crab were caught incidentally in the deep- 
er (>300 m) tows, and sampling of crab was mostly op- 
portunistic. In 2012 and 2013, stations were specifical- 
ly defined to capture red deepsea crab, and tows were 
made in 3 depth strata defined as shallow (250-450 m), 
middle slope (450-700 m), and deep (700-850 m) (Table 
1). One attempt to tow a trawl net at a depth of 1000 m 
failed when the net was snagged and both trawl warps 
were broken, resulting in loss of a trawl net. Because of 
inclement weather and technical delays, site BIC was 
sampled only in 2012, and site BWC was not sampled 
in 2011. 
Water temperature and depth profiles were recorded 
with a conductivity, temperature, and depth profiler be- 
fore each trawl tow at each site and depth stratum. In 
2011, a Yankee 36 otter trawl with an 18.3-m headrope, 
