Embryo development and reproductive cycle in the snow crab, Chionoecetes opilio (Crustacea: Majidae), in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada

Abstract

Embryonic stages and egg-incubation durations were compared between female snow crabs, Chionoecetes opilio, in captivity and from the wild. In the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence the incubation time is 24-27 months. There are two prolonged periods of embryo development: (1) stages 3 and 4 (cleavage and blastula, gastrula) last for at least 6 months between May and January following egg extrusion, and (2) stages 11 and 12 (eye-pigment formation, chromatophore formation) last for 3-4 months between October and January of the following year. Water temperature plays an important role in determining the egg-development rate. Embryo development takes 12-13.5 months (365-410 days) when females are kept at a higher temperature (1.8-3.8°C) than that of the normal habitat (-1 to +1°C). Ovigerous females usually inhabit depths of 40-100 m, which is the cold intermediate water in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (year-round temperature and salinity -1 to +1°C and 32-33‰, respectively). However, ovigerous females are also observed at depths of 100-300 m in the Laurentian Channel, where the year-round water temperature is 3-5°C. For ovigerous females that do not migrate to the deeper, warmer waters, the duration of embryo development is 2 years, whereas females that inhabit deeper waters develop their embryos over a 1-year cycle. The reproductive potential and abundance of females with 1- and 2-year embryo-development cycles in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence are unknown.