Red King Crab | 水產百科網

Redkingcrabsarecloselyrelatedtohermitcrabsbasedongeneticanalysis.Likehermitcrabs,kingcrabshavedifferentsizedclaws.Therightclawisusuallythe ...

Common Name: Red King Crab

Scientific Name: Paralithodes camtschaticus

Carapace (shell) length: up to 28cm (11in), Leg span: 1.5m (5ft), Maximum recorded weight (male): 10.9kg (24lbs). Females are smaller than males.

Distribution: Bering Sea including Norton Sound, Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska to SE Alaska

Habitat: Up to 250m (1100ft) deep

King crabs molt before mating in the spring just after previous eggs are hatched. Eggs are carried externally by the females and develop for close to one year with the hatch timed to the abundance of plankton in the spring.  Larval crabs go through four molts called zoea followed by the glaucothoe stage which settles to the bottom.  Subsequent molts are as a fully formed crab stage in which growth occurs during each subsequent molt....