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Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

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dark hours showed very different distribution patterns depending on the<br />

station depth. Stations 80 m interval.<br />

These data<br />

suggest vertical migratory behavior that could be a significant factor<br />

in exposure to surface oil.<br />

Distribution of pelagic pagurid larvae cannot be compared with that<br />

of adults since good information is lacking on benthic distribution of<br />

adult hermit crabs in the southeastern Bering Sea.<br />

This group is routinely<br />

undersampled by conventional survey gear <strong>and</strong> yet their biomass<br />

may be substantial <strong>and</strong> their trophic position important to the benthic<br />

community that includes several commercially valuable predators of hermit<br />

crabs.<br />

Large populations of adult pagurids are expected to concentrate<br />

northeast of the 100 m isobath (as do the larvae) <strong>and</strong> along the<br />

50-100 m isobaths along the Aleutian Isl<strong>and</strong> chain. A point of interest<br />

would be whether different species dominate either side of the 100 m<br />

isobath as seems to occur for Chionoecetes bairdi <strong>and</strong> C. opilio over the<br />

outer <strong>and</strong> middle shelf domains, respectively (see Section 4.0).<br />

7.3 Summary<br />

1) Pagurid distribution was ubiquitous throughout the southeastern<br />

Bering Sea.<br />

2) Pagurid crab larvae were found from early March until mid July with<br />

greatest densities during April over the middle shelf.<br />

794

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