Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

alutaceus larvae were collected from the Sea of Japan and described by
Kurata (1963a).
Other species of majid crab larvae have not been
described (Table 5.2), but Hart's key (1971) allows easy separation of
the sub-families.
Chionoecetes angulatus may attain a carapace length of 139 mm as
adults and are distributed on the continental slope and deeper in the
southeastern Bering Sea.
Several were encountered at depths greater
than 140 m during a NWAFC continental shelf groundfish assessment, but
abundance estimates were not made (Otto et al. 1979).
5.1.4. Pinnotheridae
Unlike other families discussed thus far, pinnotherids are generally
commensal crabs that reside in polychaete tubes and burrows or in
mantle cavities of bivalves and gastropods.
Data on the distributions
of pea crabs in the southeastern Bering Sea are not available.
Irwin
and Coffin (1960) suggest that the growth of Fabia subquadrata is
related to the growth of its host (a bivalve mollusk) and describe the
early life history of laboratory-reared larvae from the coast of
Washington. The larval stages of Pinnixa occidentalis and P. schmitti
have not been described.
There is also a conflict in the literature as
to the number of zoeal stages for the Pinnotheridae.
Irwin and Coffin
(1960) report four zoeal stages for Fabia subquadrata, while Lough
(1975) reports five for the same species and unidentified species of
Pinnixa from the plankton of the Oregon coast.
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