Флоридский каменный краб: биология, промысел и состояние популяции.

Species of crustacean

The Florida stone crab (Menippe mercenaria) is a crab found in the western North Atlantic, from Connecticut to Colombia, including Texas, the Gulf of Mexico, Belize, Mexico, Jamaica, Cuba, The Bahamas, and the East Coast of the United States. The crab can also be found in and around the salt marshes of South Carolina and Georgia. It is widely caught for food. The closely related species Menippe adina (gulf stone crab) is sometimes considered a subspecies – they can interbreed, forming hybrids – and they are treated as one species for commercial fishing, with their ranges partly overlapping. The two species are believed to have diverged approximately 3 million years ago.

The stone crab's carapace is wide. They are brownish red with gray spots and a tan underside, and have large and unequally sized chelae (claws) with black tips. In addition to the usual sexual dimorphism exhibited by crabs, the female Florida stone crabs have a larger carapace than males of a similar age, and males generally have larger chelae than females.

Stone crabs can be found in deep holes near dock pilings in water deep. Oftentimes the hole will have shells around the opening; the crab uses the shell as a digging tool for the hole construction.

Females reach sexual maturity at about two years of age. In the 2011 season the mortality rates had increased to 62.9 percent and 40.8 percent respectively. In retrospect, 20 percent of landed claws are regrown. The catch varies from year to year, ranging between 2.0 and 3.5 million in the period 1982–2009, overwhelmingly from the Gulf coast (as opposed to Atlantic coast). This is believed to be the maximum amount possible, given current environmental conditions, regulations, and practices. The number of traps tripled between 1989–1990 and 2009–2010 without haul increasing (hence having a very low catch per trap level). The Seafood Watch program, managed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, identifies "high concern" on fishing mortality, "moderate concern" on stock abundance, and the fishery management strategy to be "ineffective." Claws are sold by size, generally in four sizes: medium, large, jumbo, and colossal. The top buyer of stone crab claws is Joe's Stone Crab in Miami, and it plays a significant role in the industry, influencing the wholesale price and financing many crabbers. The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program gives the Florida stone crab its lowest rating of "Avoid" and suggests "find an alternative" food.