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Temperature-, Salinity-, and Size-Dependent Winter Mortality of Juvenile Blue Crabs (Callinectes sapidus)

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Abstract

At midlatitudes within its range, overwintering mortality may play an important role in regulating blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) populations. We conducted a 121-day experiment to estimate winter mortality that used realistic temperature acclimation periods prior to and light levels during experiments. A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experimental design was used to test for the effects of temperature (3°C, 5°C), salinity (10, 25), and sediment (sediment, no sediment) on the survival of juvenile crabs (14–68-mm carapace width) of both hatchery and wild origin. The presence of sediment did not significantly alter crab survival, while hatchery-raised crabs experienced significantly lower survivorship than wild-caught crabs. An accelerated failure time model fit to the survival data indicated that time to death increased significantly with increasing temperature, salinity, and crab size. These results suggest that winter survival varies with winter severity, is spatially dynamic, and that small juveniles are more at risk of dying over the winter than larger juveniles.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank numerous individuals for the help at various stages of the project. Thanks to Eric Buck, Kiersten Curti, Dawn Davis, Dave Loewensteiner, Janet Nye, and Adam Peer for the assistance in the lab and field collection of crabs. We thank Odi Zmora at the Center of Marine Biotechnology for supplying hatchery-raised crabs, crab food, and valuable discussions. We thank Bud Millsaps for his many efforts in keeping the seawater and control temperature rooms running smoothly during the experiment. Dave Secor and Vic Kennedy provided valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. This research was conducted by the authors under award NA16RG2207/AC528051K from Maryland Sea Grant, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Maryland Sea Grant, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the US Department of Commerce. This is contribution number 4395 of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

Conflict of interest notification

No conflicts of interest exist between the authors and the funding institution. The authors have control over primary data, which they will provide for review if requested.

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  1. Laurie J. Bauer

    Present address: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1305 East West Highway, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, P.O. Box 38/1, Williams St., Solomons, MD, 20688, USA

    Laurie J. Bauer & Thomas J. Miller

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  1. Laurie J. Bauer
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  2. Thomas J. Miller
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Correspondence to Laurie J. Bauer.

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Bauer, L.J., Miller, T.J. Temperature-, Salinity-, and Size-Dependent Winter Mortality of Juvenile Blue Crabs (Callinectes sapidus). Estuaries and Coasts 33, 668–677 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-010-9277-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-010-9277-2

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