GROWTH-PATTERNS IN THE DUNGENESS CRAB (CANCER-MAGISTER DANA) - SYNTHESIS OF DATA AND COMPARISON OF MODELS

Observations on growth of Cancer magister Dana from 19 studies are summarized and synthesized using statistical models. Two growth components (molt increment, MI, and intermolt period, IP) are considered separately and in combination. Five models relating MI to premolt carapace width (CW) are compared using 5 data sets; no model is clearly preferable in all cases. Three models relating juvenile IP to CW are compared using 2 data sets; for both, a log-linear model is clearly preferred. MI shows slight, but statistically significant variation among studies for both juveniles and adults. There is significant variation in IP among studies. Little information regarding environmental influence on either component for this species is available, but temperature has been shown to strongly influence juvenile IP and to have negligible influence on MI. For adults, there is evidence of a sharp decline in annual molt probability for large females (CW > 135 mm) and males (CW > 159 mm). Overall growth is projected using a growth model incorporating temperature influence on IP, demonstrating the potential for wide temperature-mediated variation in age at reproduction and fishery recruitment.