Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

aggregations could influence susceptibility to oil since these "patches"
of crab are fortuitous in space relative to oil mishaps, but if juxtaposed
could affect large numbers of crabs in small areas.
Red king crab are sexually mature at about 95-100 mm carapace length
for males (Weber 1967, NOAA 1981), and 85-90 mm for females in the Bering
Sea (Weber 1967) or 93-122 mm in the Gulf of Alaska (Powell and Nickerson
1965). Animals are 5-6 years old at sexual maturity and males are therefore
capable of breeding 2-3 years prior to entering the fishery at
about eight years old.
3.2 Life History and General Biology: Paralithodes platypus
3.2.1 Distribution and Abundance
This is the most insular species of crab in the southeastern Bering
Sea (Fig. 3.6), with major populations (and fisheries) centered at the
Pribilof and St. Matthew Islands (Otto et al. 1982), and other populations
at Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska (Somerton and MacIntosh
1982). There is relative constancy in the location of benthic juveniles
and adults around the Pribilof Islands in recent years (Otto et al.
1980, 1981, 1982), where greatest abundance is to the east and north of
St. Paul Island, with few animals caught west near the shelf break or
about St. George Island (Fig. 3.7a and b).
This pattern of distribution
is generally accurate for of pelagic larvae, although occurrence between
and to the east of St. Paul and St. George Islands has been reported by
Armstrong et al. (1981).
The complete absence of blue king crab over
most of the southeastern Bering Sea Shelf (where red king crab, P.
camtschatica are abundant) suggests either inextricable dependence on
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