Dungeness Crab

Context:
- It can have Diploid Chromosome Number of 2n = 64.
- It can live up to 10 years (but are usually caught at 4 years).
- It can be an Egg Stage Dungeness Crab, to being a Zoea Larva Dungeness Crab, to being a Megalops Larva Dungeness Crab, to being a Juvenile Dungeness Crab, to being a Mature Adult Dungeness Crab (after ~3-years old).
- …
Counter-Example(s):
- a Red Rock Crab.
See: Crab, Zostera.

References

(Wikipedia, 2022) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeness_crab Retrieved:2022-1-19.
- The Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister (the naming convention recognised by WoRMS) or Cancer magister (the naming convention recognised by ITIS), is a species of crab inhabiting eelgrass beds and water bottoms along the west coast of North America. It typically grows to across the carapace and is a popular seafood. Its common name comes from the port of Dungeness, Washington, United States, where it is "a prized crustacean that supports the most valuable fishery on the west coast.”

(Wikipedia, 2022) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeness_crab#Life_cycle_and_ecology Retrieved:2022-1-19.
- Mature female crabs generally molt between May and August, and mating occurs immediately after the female has molted and before the new exoskeleton hardens. Males are attracted to potential mates by pheromones present in the urine of females. Upon locating an available female, the male initiates a protective premating embrace that lasts for several days. In this embrace, the female is tucked underneath the male, oriented such that their abdomens touch and their heads face each other. Mating occurs only after the female has molted, and the female signals her readiness to molt by urinating on or near the antennae of the male. The female extrudes the eggs from her body several months later; however, they remain attached under her abdomen for three to five months until they hatch. Young crabs are free-swimming after hatching, and go through five larval stages before reaching maturity after about 10 molts or two years. Juvenile crabs develop in eelgrass beds and estuaries where salinity levels tend to be low. The hyposaline conditions of the estuaries are lethal to some of the crab's symbionts, such as Carcinonemertes errans which consumes a brooding female's live eggs. Dungeness crabs surveyed in Coos Bay were less likely to be infected by C. errans and have fewer worms present on their carapace when inhabiting less saline waters farther inland.

http://blog.ptmsc.org/2011/07/mega-what.html
- QUOTE: ... Most of Puget Sound has a healthy population of Dungeness crab, but some places like Hood Canal and the Tacoma Narrows have shown a decline in their population. So what are crab megalops and how do we find them? Megalops are one of the stages of growth in a crab. ...