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Concept
Red king crab
Summary
The red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus), also called Kamchatka crab or Alaskan king crab, is a species of king crab native to cold waters in the North Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas, but also introduced to the Barents Sea. It grows to a leg span of , and is heavily targeted by fisheries.
The red king crab is the largest species of king crab. Red king crabs can reach a carapace width up to , a leg span of , and a weight of . Males grow larger than females. Today, red king crabs infrequently surpass in carapace width and the average male landed in the Bering Sea weighs . It was named after the color it turns when it is cooked rather than the color of a living animal, which tends to be more burgundy.
The red king crab is native cold waters in the North Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas, ranging from the Bering Sea south to the Gulf of Alaska, off the Kamchatka Peninsula, and in the Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan. It was introduced artificially by the Soviet Union into the Murmansk Fjord, Barents Sea, during the 1960s to provide a new, and valuable, catch in Europe.
Red king crabs have been seen in water temperatures that range from , with typical being . Immatures prefer temperatures below . The depth at which it can live has much to do with what stage of its lifecycle it is in; newly hatched crab (zoea larvae) stay in the shallower waters where food and protection are plentiful. Usually, after the age of two, the crabs move down to depths of and take part in what is known as podding; hundreds of crabs come together in tight, highly concentrated groups. Adult crabs are found usually more than down on the sand and muddy areas in the substrate. They migrate in the winter or early spring to shallower depths for mating, but most of their lives are spent in the deep waters where they feed.
P. camtschaticus faces many predators in its native range including Pacific cod, walleye pollock, rock sole, flathead sole, rex sole, Dover sole (Microstomus pacificus), arrowtooth flounder, Elasmobranchs, halibut, sculpin, Greenland turbot, Pacific salmon, Pacific herring, otters (Enhydra lutris) and seals.
Official source
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