The Blue Crab: Callinectes sapidus
The blue crab
is one of the most well known denizens of the Chesapeake Bay.
It is an economically important creature vital to the success of the
Maryland and Virginia seafood market, which employ thousands of workers and
generate millions of dollars of revenue.
The blue crab also
plays a significant ecological role in the bay. It is believed by some to be an estuarine keystone species,
due to its major role in the food web throughout the bay.
It acts as a predator or as a scavenger feeding on whatever is available,
but it also serves as prey to a wide variety of organisms.
Blue crab population
numbers have been declining, causing great concern for watermen and scientists.
The drop in population has
been attributed to a number of factors including: natural population
fluctuations, lack of suitable habitat, i.e. (SAV),
over-fishing, as well as a number of other possible causes.
The decline is probably due to a combination of events, however in
order to maintain a sustainable blue crab population, we need to know what can
be done to prevent any further regression of the blue crab population.
In order to increase the blue crab population from
it’s current level, it is necessary to understand its population dynamics, (The
science studying the change in numbers, biomass, and age structure of
populations) and identify levels of crab abundance at which exploitation can
occur while maintaining a sustainable population.
Click on the Blue crab below to explore growth and population dynamics of the blue crab
picture courtesy of: Smithsonian Environmental Education
Center
Biochemical methods Measuring carapace width
Crab dissection and how to determine the gender of blue crabs