Sexual Maturity of Deep-Sea Red Crabs Chaceon Quinquedens in the Mid-Atlantic Bight

Deep-sea red crabs (Chaceon quinquedens) support a small fishery in the deeper waters of Southern New England (>400 m). As lobster fisheries continue to decline in Southern New England, fishers may begin redirecting their effort towards alternative fisheries such as red crab, emphasizing the need for biological information usable for management. Previous studies of reproductive biology were based on small samples (<35).  We measured 1754 crabs collected during two cruises aboard the NOAA R/V Delaware in January 2011 and 2012.  Crabs were sampled from four canyons between Rhode Island and Virginia including the Hudson and Norfolk Canyons at depths ranging from 250 to 900 m.  Males were larger than females, and size of both sexes generally increased in a southerly direction.  Male size increased with depth, whereas female size decreased with depth.  Gonads from 137 female and 109 male crabs were examined and preserved for histological preparation.  The size of 50% sexual maturity (SM₅₀) for female crabs was estimated using ovary conditions for 106 dissected crabs (63.7 mm CL), and using external morphology for 620 crabs that were not dissected (59.7 mm CL).  Management implications of size and reproductive condition for red crab are discussed.