Metamorphosis season from megalopa to the first crab stage in snow crab Chionoecetes opilio and red snow crab C. japonicus (Crustacea, Decapoda, Majoidea) in the Sea of Japan, estimated from captive culture

ABSTRACT

Metamorphosis season of megalopae to the first crab stage in snow crab Chionoecetes opilio and red snow crab C. japonicus was inferred by culturing wild-born megalopae collected from the Sea of Japan. Metamorphosis occurred from late June to late July (mainly in July) in snow crab, and from early July to early October (mainly from August to September) in red snow crab. The number of days required from the time of collection to metamorphosis was less than the intermoult period previously reported for snow crab megalopae. However, the developmental period of the megalopae was estimated as substantially longer in red snow crab than in snow crab. Previous studies have shown that the hatching season and the period of the zoeal stage in both two species are similar. These results suggest that a different metamorphosis season between the two species would be due to a difference in their megalopal intermoult period.

KEYWORDS:

• Early life history
• larval development
• pelagic larva
• wild-born megalopa

Acknowledgments

We thank the staff of the Obama Laboratory, JSFRFI, FRA, for supporting the laboratory experiments. We also thank the captain and crew of the RV Shoyo-Maru. This study was partially funded by the Fisheries Agency of Japan.

Declaration of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.