Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

tows and trawling as techniques for assessing distribution and abundance,
little can be said concerning the relative effectiveness of the two
techniques in determining distribution. Clearly, the TV tows were most
valuable in giving a visual record for characterizing the habitat of the
juvenile king crab and should be considered capable of providing
information not obtainable from trawling.
Most of the juvenile king crab collected were between 50 and 80 mm CL.
King crab less than 20 mm CL were collected by divers or trawls in rocky
areas off Nelson Lagoon and near Amak Island. Trawls in these rocky areas
tore the nets, and the small juveniles were picked off the torn netting.
Of king crab less than 20 mm CL one was taken in June; eight, in August;
and one, in October. Two additional king crabs collected were between 20
and 40 mm CL; the remaining king crab were above 48 mm CL. During 1983
other NOAA/OCSEAP investigators collected and froze 63 specimens of
juvenile king crab (CL = 5-29 mm) for use in the immunoassay.
The lack of juvenile king crab off Port Moller in October was
unexpected but may have been related to oceanographic events. In October
warm water ( >7 C) extended to the 75-m isobath due to storms with west
winds in September. The crabs may have moved in response to the extension
of the warm water mass. The smaller shifts of juvenile king and tanner
crab from 55-65 m in June to 65-75 m in August may also have been due to
seaward extension of the frontal zone in August. A more systematic effort
would be necessary to demonstrate that the juvenile crabs migrate seaward
and shoreward before the frontal zone of the coastal water mass located
approximately at the 50-m isobath.
CARAPACE SIZE - MAXIMUM STOMACH VOLUME RELATIONSHIP
In June, 262 of the 319 king crabs (CL = 33-129 mm) that were
dissected had intact stomachs and were used in the regression analysis.
The following power function proved to relate the maximum stomach volume,
V (ml), to the carapace length, L (mm):
V = 2.22 x 10- 5 L 2 . 87
or ln V = -10.716 + 2.87 ln L.
The R-squared was 76.6%. Equations for the separate sexes did not differ
significantly so that data from both sexes were pooled to produce the
above equation. Shell condition also did not prove to be a significant
variable.
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