Fecundity and egg size of giant crabs (Pseudocarcinus gigas)
Fecundity and egg size of giant crabs (Pseudocarcinus gigas) were determined from egg masses of 162 crabs sampled from three sites in south-eastern Australia: western Victoria, western Tasmania and eastern Tasmania. Crabs ranged in carapace length from 126 to 220 mm and egg number ranged from 830000 to 2500000.
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Creation)
- 2007-03-29T00:00:00
Principal investigator
Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI) - Gardner, Caleb, Dr
Private Bag 49
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia
- Purpose
- Assess the effect of the following factors on fecundity and on egg size: (1) size of the female, (2) regional variation between three widespread sites around south-eastern Australia representative of the major fishing areas, and (3) successive broods produced between moults.
- Credit
- Australian Postgraduate Award
- Credit
- University of Tasmania
- Credit
- Tasmanian DPIF
- Credit
- Victorian DCNR
- Status
- Completed
Principal investigator
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Gardner, Caleb, Dr
IMAS - Taroona
Private Bag 49
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia
- Topic category
-
- Biota
Extent
N
S
E
W
N
S
E
W
N
S
E
W
Temporal extent
- Time period
- 1995-08-10T00:00:00 1995-09-15T00:00:00
Vertical element
- Minimum value
- 100
- Maximum value
- 380
- Identifier
- EPSG::5715
- Name
- MSL depth
- Maintenance and update frequency
- Not planned
Resource format
- Title
- Excel Sreadsheet
- Date
- Edition
- 2003
- CAAB - Codes for Australian Aquatic Biota v2.
-
- 28 925001
- Pseudocarcinus gigas
- Keywords (Place)
-
- Victoria
- Keywords (Place)
-
- Tasmania
- Keywords (Theme)
-
- fecundity
- Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords Version 8.0
- Keywords (Theme)
-
- Carapace length
- Whole weight
- Egg diameter
- Egg weight
Resource constraints
- Access constraints
- Copyright
- Use constraints
- Copyright
- Other constraints
- See point of contact for access to the data.
Resource constraints
- Classification
- Unclassified
Resource constraints
- Use limitation
- The data described in this record are the intellectual property of the University of Tasmania through the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute.
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Environment description
- female size_egg.xls
- Supplemental Information
- Gardner C. (1997) Effect of size on reproductive output of giant crabs Pseudocarcinus gigas (Lamarck): Oziidae Marine Freshwater Research,48:581-587.
Content Information
- Content type
- Physical measurement
- Name
-
Carapace length
- Name
-
CL
- Identifier
- http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UXMM
- Name
- Millimetres
- Name
-
Whole weight
- Name
- Grams
- Name
-
Egg diameter
- Identifier
- http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UXMM
- Name
- Millimetres
- Name
-
Egg weight
- Name
- Grams
Distribution Information
- Distribution format
-
-
Excel Spread Sheet
-
Excel Spread Sheet
Distributor
- OnLine resource
-
DATA - female egg size [direct download]
- OnLine resource
-
imas:DP1_CGardner_Fecundity_egg_size_of_giant_crabs_GV
MAP - location of crab sampling
Resource lineage
- Statement
- Ovigerous female crabs (n=166) were collected in traps by commercial fishers during the period 10 August to 15 September 1995 from eastern Tasmania (n=30), western Tasmania (n=121) and western Victoria (n=11). The following measures were recorded: whole weight (with egg mass removed), carapace length (CL, mm), abdomen width, chela length and chela height. The sample included 21 crabs missing one leg and 2 crabs missing two legs; the whole weight (W, g) of these individuals was adjusted by correcting for missing limbs with a regression formula, W = -4076.3 + 37.35[CL] + 0.0325[CL]2. It was considered that fecundity might change between successive clutches, so a measure of shell wear was used to quantify time since the previous moult. Shell wear, or 'carapace condition', was classified as follows. Carapace condition 1: shell clean, bright; little to no fouling. If gooseneck barnacles present, then < 5 mm across longest axis, little to no wear apparent on the dactylus of pereiopods. Carapace condition 2: shell bright; fouling often heavy but composed almost entirely of gooseneck barnacles; wear apparent on the dactylus of pereiopods, with the bristles being completely removed in places. Carapace condition 3: shell often faded; fouling heavy and composed of many organisms besides gooseneck barnacles, especially colonial scidians and bryozoans; dactylus of pereiopods heavily worn with abrasion on the shell surface. Derivation of egg counts Half of each egg mass was removed from the crabs by severing four of the eight pleopods at their base in an alternate fashion, to avoid possible bias from uneven distribution of eggs between pleopods. Eggs were removed from the pleopods by severing setae at the point of junction with the pleopods. Mean dry weight of the individual egg was calculated from the weight of two subsamples of at least 250 eggs, counted and then weighed collectively. Samples were dried at 80°C for 24 h, followed by a 1-h period in a vacuum. Dry weight of the whole egg mass was estimated by weighing the blotted egg mass and then calculating mean moisture content from two subsamples of 1.5 g. Total number of eggs per female was estimated from the mean egg dry weight and the dry weight of the whole egg mass. Egg diameter Subsamples were taken from each abdominal egg mass and teased apart in sea water. The diameters of 50 eggs were recorded by image analysis using NIH-Image 1.60 software. Only those eggs that were round and appeared normal were measured. Egg volume was calculated from egg diameter.
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
Platform
Identifier
- Code
- fishing vessel
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
-
1574f320-44a9-11dc-8cd0-00188b4c0af8
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Point of contact
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Dataset
- Metadata linkage
-
https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/1574f320-44a9-11dc-8cd0-00188b4c0af8
Point of truth URL of this metadata record
- Date info (Creation)
- 2021-03-30T21:18:12
- Date info (Revision)
- 2021-03-30T21:18:12
Metadata standard
- Title
- ISO 19115-3:2018
Overviews
Spatial extent
N
S
E
W
N
S
E
W
N
S
E
W
Provided by
Associated resources
Not available