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Blue crab baby sizes and shapes influence their survival

Crabs larval differences are unrelated to their mothers' sizes

Date:
October 17, 2018
Source:
Rutgers University
Summary:
Like people, blue crabs aren't all the same sizes and shapes. Now scientists have discovered substantial differences in the body structures of larval crab siblings and among larvae from different mothers. And that can mean the difference between an early death and survival into adulthood for this important commercial and recreational species.
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Like people, blue crabs aren't all the same sizes and shapes. Now Rutgers scientists have discovered substantial differences in the body structures of larval crab siblings and among larvae from different mothers. And that can mean the difference between an early death and survival into adulthood for this important commercial and recreational species.

Unlike other crab species, these larval differences aren't related to the size of their mothers, according to a study in Biological Bulletin. The differences can mean that babies from certain mothers may swim or feed more efficiently than others, giving them an advantage.

"Early larval stages of crabs can be challenging to work with in the lab, but they are key life stages to study in order to understand blue crab populations," said lead author Joseph Caracappa, a Rutgers University-New Brunswick doctoral student based at Rutgers' Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory in Port Norris, New Jersey.

Blue crab larvae -- the earliest life stage -- look almost nothing like adult crabs and live in open water off the coast of New Jersey. Blue crabs support a substantial fishery in the Garden State and other eastern U.S. states, including Maryland. Scientists have been interested in the species for more than a century, yet much remains unknown about what happens to them early in life.


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Materials provided by Rutgers University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Joseph C. Caracappa, Daphne M. Munroe. Morphological Variability Among Broods of First-Stage Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus) Zoeae. The Biological Bulletin, 2018; 000 DOI: 10.1086/699922

Cite This Page:

Rutgers University. "Blue crab baby sizes and shapes influence their survival." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 October 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181017094943.htm>.
Rutgers University. (2018, October 17). Blue crab baby sizes and shapes influence their survival. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 20, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181017094943.htm
Rutgers University. "Blue crab baby sizes and shapes influence their survival." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181017094943.htm (accessed November 20, 2024).

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