ABSTRACT

Reproductive success of crustaceans is dependent on many factors, including but not limited to, physiology, behavior, environment, and population structure. For exploited populations such as those of many large decapods (e.g., crabs and lobsters), our understanding of these factors is in its infancy. An overview of reproduction among king crabs is presented by Webb in Chapter 10. One place to begin the study of reproduction is with the process of fertilization and embryonic development. Developmental studies are conducted for many reasons including comparative, systematic, evolutionary, and ecological purposes. Historically, studies of invertebrate embryology were motivated by the desire to understand development per se, using simple organisms that could be easily manipulated, such as the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis (Stephens, 1972). Early studies on decapod crustaceans such as the American lobster Homarus americanus (Bumpus, 1895) were primarily descriptive. These led to studies of comparative development, which have been particularly useful for deciphering the relationships of lithodid crabs (see McLaughlin, Chapter 2). In contrast, much of the impetus for developmental studies of king crabs has been economic, particularly the desire to develop commercial-scale cultivation systems (Stevens, 2006). The primary focus of previous research on embryonic development in crabs has been

7.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................211 7.2 Development of Red King Crab Embryos ....................................................................................213