Habitat preference and locomotive traits of the Japanese mitten crab Eriocheir japonica within the stream unit of the freshwater river environment

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Preferences by the Japanese mitten crab Eriocheir japonica of three mesoscale environments within a river unit (pools, riffles and runs) were investigated in a freshwater river by pot fishing and hand-net collecting during the fall. In addition, E. japonica’s life modes during each growth stage were elucidated by comparing data obtained by hand-net collecting into three size groups (20 mm < CW, 20 mm ≤ CW < 40 mm, and 40 mm ≤ CW). Both the number of crabs caught per pot and per 10 m stretch sampled along the river by hand-net collecting indicated that mean catch values varied in the following manner runs < pools < riffles, and that this variation was large in riffles and small in pools and runs. Only large crabs of 40 mm ≤ CW could be collected by pot fishing; in contrast, small juveniles were only caught by hand-net collecting. Results of the hand-net collecting indicated that small juveniles (CW < 20 mm) preferred to be in riffles, while the mid-size class crabs (20 – 40 mm CW) presence in the riffles decreased and once they became adults (40 mm ≤ CW) they chose to be in pools. In all size classes, runs were not a preferred choice. These results suggest that the small juveniles are oriented by their positive rheotaxis. Their movement is probably affected by flow regimes, creating large variations in their density in the riffles. In contrast, adults can freely move within a stream unit and use pools as their resting site, thus they are steadily captured in large numbers with a small variation in the pools by pot fishing. However, the adults can actively wander around riffles and runs, searching for animal food, and are attracted to the riffles by bait odors depending on the water flow. Therefore, the most effective catching method is to set the pots in riffles when the river is swollen.