Mating Frequency and Viability of Stored Sperm in the Tanner Crab Chionoecetes Bairdi (Decapoda, Majidae)

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Abstract
In captivity the percentage of multiparous C. bairdi that mated prior to extrusion of their annual egg clutch was 62-100% and varied with sex ratio. In test groups where 1 male was held with 8 or fewer females, > 90% of the females mated before egg extrusion but the percentage declined when more females were present. Ten was the maximum number of females mated by a single male during 1 breeding season. Viable egg clutches were produced by 97 and 71% of females using sperm stored in their spermathecae for 1 and 2 yr, respectively. The remaining ripe females, held isolated from males, either produced egg clutches composed totally of nondividing eggs or never extruded eggs. Some nonovigerous females that had been isolated from males for 8 yr were allowed to mate and subsequently produced viable eggs. Autopsy revealed that these females had both old and fresh sperm in their spermathecae, suggesting that the older sperm were not viable. Females forced to use stored sperm to fertilize 3 successive annual egg clutches produced only nonviable eggs in the 3rd yr.

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