Snow crab

Description

Chionoecetes opilio, is a species of snow crab, also known as opilio crab or opies, is a predominantly epifaunal crustacean native to shelf depths in the northwest Atlantic Ocean and north Pacific Ocean. It is a well-known commercial species of Chionoecetes, often caught with traps or by trawling. Seven species are in the genus Chionoecetes, all of which bear the name "snow crab". C. opilio is related to C. bairdi, commonly known as the tanner crab, and other crab species found in the cold, northern oceans. Snow crabs are native to the Northwest Atlantic and the North Pacific. In the Northwest Atlantic, they are found in the areas near Greenland, Newfoundland, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and on the Scotian Shelf. In the North Pacific, this crab is found in areas ranging from Alaska to northern Siberia, and through the Bering Strait to the Aleutian Islands, Japan, and Korea. In 1996, they were recorded in the Barents Sea for the first time. They are considered an invasive species there, but how they arrived there is unclear. Another commercially important species, introduced deliberately to the same region, the red king crab, already has established itself in Barents Sea. Similarly, snow crabs likely will have an adverse effect on the native species of the Barents Sea. Snow crabs are found in the ocean's shelf and upper slope, on sandy and muddy bottoms. They are found at depths from 13 to 2,187 m (43 to 7,175 ft), but average is about 110 m (360 ft). In Atlantic waters, most snow crabs are found at depths of 70-280 m (230-920 ft). Where male and female snow crabs are found in the ocean, depths may vary. Small adult and senescent adult males occur mainly at intermediate depths over much of the year, while large and hardy adult males are found mostly at depths greater than 80 m (260 ft). Adult females are gregarious and congregate at depths of 60-120 m (200-390 ft). Snow crabs mainly reside in very cold waters, between -1 and 5 °C (30 and 41 °F), but can be found at temperatures up to 10 °C (50 °F). Chionoecetes opilio crabs eat other invertebrates in the benthic shelf, such as crustaceans, bivalves, brittle stars, polychaetes, and even phytobenthos and foraminiferans. Snow crabs also are scavengers, and aside from preying on other benthic shelf invertebrates, they prey on annelid worms and mollusks.