Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Predation On Single Spat Oysters Crassostrea Virginica (Gmelin) By Blue Crabs Callinectes Sapidus Rathbun And Mud Crabs Panopeus Herbstii Milne-Edwards, Robert Bisker, Michael Castagna
Predation On Single Spat Oysters Crassostrea Virginica (Gmelin) By Blue Crabs Callinectes Sapidus Rathbun And Mud Crabs Panopeus Herbstii Milne-Edwards, Robert Bisker, Michael Castagna
VIMS Articles
Single spat oysters Crassostrea virginica of four size classes (3.4-24.6 mm mean shell heights [SH]) were offered to six size classes of blue crabs Ca/linectes sapidus (9.3-85.5 mm mean carapace width [CW]) and five size classes of mud crabs Panopeus herbstii (7.1-34.4 mm mean CW) for 48 hr. Predation rate, recorded as the number of dead oyster spat/crab/day, was directly proportional to crab size and inversely proportional to oyster size. Mud crabs of 34.4 mm CW and blue crabs of 85 .5 mm CW had predation rates of 22.5 and 16.7 spat/crab/day on oyster spat of 24.6 and 24.4 mm …