Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

Larval stages are generally considered more sensitive to environmental
stresses than adults or juveniles of aquatic species (Anger et al.
1981; Bakun et al. 1982; May 1974; Vernberg and Vernberg 1972). Studies
of larval crab and shrimp biology in the southeastern Bering Sea are
timely for insights behind the vagaries of adult abundance that might be
traced to relative success of pelagic larval year-classes.
An important
consideration for predictions of impact is whether oil mishaps could further
diminish populations already reduced by natural stresses on their
larvae.
Forthcoming development of petroleum and gas reserves in the reproductive
and fishing grounds of commercially important Crustacea led to
the study outlined in this report.
While extensive literature exists on
the distribution and abundance of juvenile and adult decapod Crustacea
in the southeastern Bering Sea (Jewett and Feder 1981; Otto 1981a;
provided by NMFS as part of the commercial fisheries survey; Somerton
1981), little data on the general ecology, distribution, and abundance
of their pelagic larvae are published.
Larvae are considered extremely
susceptible to oil pollution because:
1. This life-history stage is pelagic, usually in the upper 20 in of
the water column and, for some species and stages, largely in the
neuston (e.g., Smyth 1980).
Given the tendency of the various ;nolecular
fractions of petroleum to either dissolve or form colloids
and particles in water and disperse as a surface film or sink
slowly (Shaw 1977; McAuliffe 1977), crustacean larvae are more
likely to be exposed to oil on a broader scale than are their benthic
parents.
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