Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

single brood (Berkeley 1930).
It is assumed that the colder waters of
the southeastern Bering Sea retard growth and maturation and prolong the
life span.
Harris et al. (1972) studied the relationship between carapace
length and egg number.
Puget Sound P. dispar were found to have a
mean egg count of 904 eggs/clutch versus 4,150 eggs/clutch found by
Hynes (1930) in a southeastern Alaskan population (Table 6.1). Also, P.
dispar females were found to be smaller at the same age in Puget Sound
than in Southeastern Alaska.
Commercial quantities of P. dispar have
been taken by trawlers off the British Columbia coast but usually P.
dispar occurs in mixed catches with P. borealis in Alaska.
Comments on Bering Sea Pandalids:
The ecological and potential commercial
importance of pandalids in the southeastern Bering Sea is difficult
to ascertain and the following points should be stressed.
1. NMFS groundfish trawl surveys routinely underestimate sizes of
shrimp stocks due to the large mesh size of their nets.
2. Little attention has been given these families in studies of
benthic ecology since they are not found in commercially exploitable
quantities or sizes.
3. An underestimation of the importance of these groups has resulted
and scant attention has been given to the crucial trophic role they
may play in the diet of commercial fish and marine mammals.
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