Spawning and Recruitment

The criteria used to assess spawning and recruitment behaviors is summarized in Appendices A.5.12 and A.5.13 and is not repeated here. Crab spawning behavior emerges because individual crabs were able to reach sexual maturity under the rules governing their growth and development under the particular environmental conditions encountered.

Most spawning by model crabs occurred in late April and tapered off towards September. No spawning occurred between October and early April. Crabs spawned at similar rates over temperatures of 20 and 28 $\ensuremath{^\circ\text{C }}$. The vast majority of spawning occurred close to the mouth of the model estuary. Crabs spawned in water whose salinity ranged from $\approx 10$ to 20 psu. The average inter-spawning period was 2.1 months and almost all mature female crabs spawned between 1 and 2 times per year. The earliest times crabs were instantiated into the model estuary was mid July and the latest was the end of September.