This crab inhabits all areas of the Chesapeake Bay, frequenting the shallow waters and grass beds in summer while hibernating in deeper trenches for winter. D�����b�����Um�V��H�?�� U�J
This larval stage only lasts for about a week, at the end of which the megalopa molts into the first crab stage, a tiny juvenile crab. To understand the blue crab life cycle, we will follow a female blue crab from birth to reproduction. endstream
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A female will fertilize the eggs and can spawn them multiple times over a period of two to 12 months. The male partner carries the female into a protected area while she prepares for her final molt, or the shedding of her hard external shell. PART OF WILD SKY MEDIA | FAMILY & PARENTING, Chesapeake Quarterly: Atlantic Blue Crab Life Cycle, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Chesapeake Bay Office: Blue Crab. © 2020 WILD SKY MEDIA. She will spend 31-49 days going through seven larval stages called zoea. A bright orange mass develops by her apron -- the flap on her belly -- containing between 750,000 and 2 million eggs. The Maryland blue crab is an olive green crustacean known for its bright blue legs and sweet tasting meat. The mature males have been buried in the sediments of the estuaries, and the juveniles have sheltered in shallow-water habitats. The rather short life span means the blue crab moves quickly through its life cycle. In this phase, the crab is still too small and too weak to swim. Photo of the Week: We Send Greetings! A zoea molts seven times before becoming a megalopa. After mating, the mature females migrate to the mouth of the Bay carrying her brood of eggs. 82 0 obj
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Blue crabs start their lives as tiny zoea, floating in the ocean waters. While the males seek out another mate, the females migrate to saltier waters of the lower Chesapeake Bay and burrow in the mud. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. As early as the 1600s, the blue crab was an important food item for Native Americans and European settlers in the Chesapeake Bay area. endstream
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The blue crab starts her life as a larva, an early-life stage that looks completely different than her adult form. h�bbd```b``�"[��t)�D2���s0�̶�:`�m`�X� �T�ܑ �! They remain in the rivers and inlets of the Bay. All winter, the females have remained on the bottom of the Bay, most of them in the deepest water. h�b```a``���6� ��ea�x�0��)#������О{���Gp%H@��%����3�2�c�Ô���� �%.N�9��f�=\�m�,ַ�4#)i>��P~��X|/@D^ y� �
Due to the high rate of fishing and habitat destruction, blue crabs average a life span of two years, and very few blue crabs live longer than three years. Zoea are too small to swim and simply float in the ocean waters where they feed on phytoplankton. Mature females tend to remain in the spawning area or travel short distances. Throughout their range crabs were also an effective bait type for hook and line fisheries. Males, or jimmies, meet with females, called sooks, in the salty middle waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Mature females produce egg masses (referred to as sponges) from May to October when the water temperature is warm and food is abundant for the newly hatched blue crab larvae. In each stage she is similar in appearance, but is slightly larger than in the last stage. This crab inhabits all areas of the Chesapeake Bay, frequenting the shallow waters and grass beds in summer while hibernating in deeper trenches for winter. The blue crab’s life cycle is also closely related to … 65 0 obj
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Pam Smith has been writing since 2005. After mating season, the males return to the creeks, rivers and estuaries of the upper Chesapeake Bay. The blue crab's activity begins in early spring, when the waters of the Chesapeake Bay warm and the crabs stir from their dormant state. There is the appearance of legs and front claws, though the animals still sport lobster-like tails. Shape The World. In addition to her work for Demand Media, her articles have been published online at CBS Local. After four or five weeks of floating in ocean currents, a zoea develops into the second larval stage and is now called a megalopa.
This happens about 45 days after the initial hatching of the eggs. Be Her Village. Zoea then metamorphose into the megalops, a stage that lasts six to 20 days and is the last larval molt. Nevertheless, we know a considerable amount about the crustacean’s life cycle and habitat, during what appears to be a particularly perilous time for the species in the Bay. The eggs hatch into the first larval stage called the zoea. Carried by the currents and the tidal flow from the ocean, the megalopa drifts back into the Bay. The juvenile stage marks the crab's return to the upper Chesapeake Bay and its rivers; males will journey farther north than females. Mar 4, 2015 - When they're ready, females can produce millions of eggs (from 8 to 14 million).