Kemberling and Darnell: Distribution, abundance, and reproductive output of spawning female Callinectes sapidus 353 
Summer 
[Observed mean CPUE 
Gulf of Mexico 
Coefficient of variation 
Predicted CPUE Predicted CPUE 
(standardized) * ; | |(Standardized) 
96°W 94°W 92°W 90°W 88°W 96°W 94°W 92°W 90°W 
Figure 3 
Spatial patterns of catch per unit of effort (CPUE) for adult female blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) collected during ground- 
fish trawl surveys conducted in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico in summer (left panels) and fall (right panels) across the 
study period 2000-2019. The top panels show observed CPUE (number of individuals per hectare), binned into 0.25° grid 
cells and averaged across all years on a log scale. White areas represent areas that were not sampled, and gray grid cells 
represent areas with no catch of adult female blue crab over the full study period. The middle panels show interannual 
variability in catch rates, calculated as the coefficient of variation of observed annual mean CPUE. The bottom panels show 
predicted CPUE of adult female blue crab for each season from the generalized additive model, averaged across all years and 
standardized by using a Z-transformation based on the mean and standard deviation for that particular season. Values are 
depicted in units of standard deviations above (positive values) or below (negative values) the mean. White contours delineate 
a standardized value of zero, representing the mean for that season. Black lines represent the 36.6-, 73.2-, and 109.7-m (20-, 
40-, and 60-fathom) depth contours. 
developmental stage and 1 crab carried eggs in the late fecundity. This relationship was evident when both CW 
stage. None of the females collected during the fall sur- (P<0.0001, deviance explained [D?]=0.539) and body mass 
vey had mated recently. (P<0.0001, D?=0.712) were considered (Fig. 6). Results of 
Fecundity was 1.07—8.93 million eggs (mean: 3.27 mil- the comparison of model fits based on AICc indicate that 
lion eggs [SE 0.15 million]) and was strongly related to body mass was a better predictor of fecundity than CW, 
size of female crab, with larger females having higher with an AlCc weight >0.98. 
